With the aim of bringing our readers an extensive business events, exhibitions and trade fairs diary, Small Business will be continually updating this page as new events come onto our radar. If you notice any business shows we have missed, or would like to feature your event on our list, please get in touch with Anna Jordan on anna.jordan@stubbenedge.com

Event month:

2024 – February | March | April | May | June | September | October | November

February 2024

Event: Love Business EXPO
Date: 15 February 2024
Location: Holywell Park Conference Centre, Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park, Loughborough, LE11 3GR
Website: www.lovebusinessexpo.co.uk
Brief: A business to business networking exhibition. It brings business and personal development opportunities together. Targeted at business owners, managers and those thinking of starting a business.

Event: Midlands Expo (Birmingham)
Date: 22 February 2024
Location: Aston Villa FC, The Holte Suite, Trinity Road, Birmingham, B6 6EH
Website: greatbritishexpos.co.uk/midlands-expo-birmingham/
Brief: This exhibition for businesses within the Midlands region is designed to help you network, make new connections and grow your business. Join over 1,000 SMEs from across the region, with Live 1-2-1 networking, seminars and masterclasses, and be inspiration from keynote speakers.

Event: Gloucestershire Business Show
Date: 28-29 February 2024
Location: The University of Gloucestershire School of Business, Oxstalls Campus, Gloucester, GL2 9HW
Website: business-shows.co.uk/gloucestershire/
Brief: Billed as a festival of business and innovation, the exhibition is open 10:00 – 4:00 on day one and 10:00 – 3:00 on day two. Exhibitors help design the programme for discussions, learning and collaboration, and also deliver LIVEtalk presentations.

Event: Doncaster Business Showcase
Date: 29 February 2024
Location: Doncaster Racecourse, Bawtry Rd, Doncaster DN2 6BB
Website: businessdoncaster.co.uk/business-showcase
Brief: An annual event that typically attracts over 2,500 visitors and 300+ exhibitors. It is Yorkshire’s largest business networking expo of its kind.

March 2024

Event: Edinburgh Business Show
Date: 5 March 2024
Location: Leonardo Murrayfield Hotel, Edinburgh EH12 6UG
Website: edinburghbusinessshow.co.uk
Brief: The show is aimed at helping local SMEs, growth-oriented entrepreneurs and individuals to achieve business and professional goals by connecting with one another. Designed for decision makers, team leaders, owners, managers and directors from all sizes of business. Features 1-2-1 Networking, workshops and seminars.

Event: Bournemouth Business Expo
Date: 7 March 2024
Location: Vitality Stadium, Kings Park, BH7 7AF
Website: https://www.b2bexpos.co.uk/bournemouth-expo-march-2024
Brief: Over 50 local exhibitors will be showcasing their services and you can network with 300-400 Bournemouth and Dorset-based companies. Free business seminars and interactive workshops. Free to attend with pre-registration.

Event: Hereford & Worcestershire Business Expo
Date: 7 March 2024
Location: Three Counties Showground, Malvern, WR13 6NW
Website: hwchamber.co.uk/events/business-expo/
Brief: This event is run by the local Chamber of Commerce. Attendance is free, there is a dedicated Networking Zone, and they are expecting over 120 exhibitors.

Event: Coventry Business Expo
Date: 13 March 2024
Location: Village Hotel, Coventry Business Park, Coventry CV4 9GZ
Website: b2bexpos.co.uk/coventry-expo-march-2024
Brief: Join hundreds of local businesses and enjoy the opportunity to openly network with over 250 attendees from across Coventry. Local exhibitors will be showcasing their services and promoting their latest products. Free seminars and workshops as well as a speed networking session. The event is free to attend with registration.

Event: The Business Innovation Expo
Date: 13-14 March 2024
Location: ExCeL, London E16 1XL
Website: businessrevivalseries.co.uk
Brief: To feature a wide array of exhibitors showcasing their latest products, services, and solutions. From cutting-edge technologies to disruptive business models, this Expo will offer a first-hand look at the future of your industry. There will also be an extensive seminar and keynote program.

Event: Festival of Accounting and Bookkeeping
Date: 13-14 March 2024
Location: NEC, Birmingham, B40 1NT
Website: www.fab.uk
Brief: An event that brings accountants and finance professionals together to meet, share experiences and gain direct access to unique content and practical advice to help navigate challenges and improve business.

Event: Teesside Expo
Date: 21 March 2024
Location: The Grand Marquee at Wynyard Hall, Stockton-on-Tees, Billingham TS22 5SH
Website: teessideexpo.co.uk
Brief: An exhibition of a wide range of local organisations plus seminars and workshops on key business topics. The focus is on business networking and connecting visitors with new opportunities and clients.

Event: Liverpool Business Fair
Date: 21 March 2024
Location: Liverpool F.C. Anfield Stadium, Liverpool L4 0TH
Website: liverpoolbizfair.co.uk
Brief: A business to business exhibition showcasing around 60-70 exhibitors is the main feature of the Fair. However it is also a business support day with business seminars, opportunities to network and obtain business advice from a variety of experts and professional bodies.

Event: YORBusiness
Date: 21 March 2024
Location: Mercure Leeds Parkway Hotel, Otley Rd, Leeds LS16 8AG
Website: yorbusinessevents.co.uk/
Brief: A business expo and networking event for Leeds. Admission for visitors is free. Exhibitor prices start at £150.

April 2024

Event: International Franchise Show
Date: 12-13 April 2024
Location: ExCeL London, E16 1XL
Website: www.thefranchiseshow.co.uk
Brief: The UK’s biggest franchise exhibition featuring opportunities from around the world. Business owners get free access to over 250 exhibitors, 60 seminars, 1-2-1 personal advice, interactive features, expert guidance and more.

Event: SME XPO
Date: 23-24 April 2024
Location: ExCeL London, E16 1XL
Website: www.smexpo.co.uk
Brief: SME XPO is a FREE networking exhibition and conference run by the Evening Standard and designed to support the UK scaleup community. This event is designed to inspire and educate business leaders and owners, delivering a programme covering everything from strategy, investment, and scaling-up, to sustainability and more.

Event: lovelocalexpo
Date: 24 April 2024
Location: Impact Conferencing, 30 Sycamore Ave, Burnley, BB12 6QP
Website: lovelocalexpo.co.uk
Brief: An annual exhibition of businesses from all sectors and corners of Lancashire attracting visitors from across the north-west. Meet new clients, suppliers and collaborators and attend expert seminars. Access experts in business support, funding, grants, scaling and growth. Free to visit.

Event: North East Expo
Date: 25 April 2024
Location: High Gosforth Park, Racecourse, Newcastle upon Tyne NE3 5HP
Website: northeastexpo.co.uk
Brief: An event for small and medium sized businesses across the Tyneside, Wearside and Northumberland areas. It is free to attend as a delegate and you will get the chance to meet and network with over 150 Exhibitors, plus attend any of the 16+ seminars.

Event: National Convenience Show
Date: 29-30 April 2024
Location: NEC, Birmingham, B40 1NT
Website: www.nationalconvenienceshow.co.uk/
Brief: This is the biggest event for the convenience-retailing sector, providing a single platform for the whole market to come together – suppliers, wholesalers and retailers. You can, sample and source c-store-specific products and services and also gain access to four other co-located shows; Food & Drink Expo, Farm Shop & Deli Show, The Forecourt Show, and The Restaurant Show.

May 2024

Event: Anglia Business Exhibition
Date: 8 May 2024
Location: Trinity Park, Felixstowe Road, Ipswich, IP3 8UH
Website: www.angliabusinessexhibition.com
Brief: Originally started 28 years ago as the ISSBA Trade Fair, this is a small B2B exhibition to showcase local businesses, innovation and entrepreneurs and to be a platform to sell, trade and grow the local business community.

Event: Bristol Business Expo
Date: 9 May 2024
Location: BAWA Conference Centre, Bristol, BS34 7RG
Website: www.b2bexpos.co.uk/event/bristol-expo-may-2024
Brief: An opportunity to openly network with 300-400 attendees from across Bristol, explore the exhibition with a variety of local exhibitors showcasing their services, attend free seminars and workshops, and a speed networking session.

Event: The Business Growth Show
Date: 15 May 2024
Location: Cheltenham Racecourse, GL50 4SH
Website: thebusinessgrowthshow.co.uk
Brief: Organised by The Business Growth Network, the show is a destination for businesses to exhibit to grow and expand their business. Free to attend for visitors and offers attendees the chance to network with up to a thousand business owners, and decision-makers locally, regionally and nationally.

June 2024

Event: eTail UK
Date: 25-26 June 2024
Location: QEII Conference Centre, London, SW1P 3EE
Website: etaileurope.wbresearch.com
Brief: eTail UK is designed to help you increase the profits from your online business. A chance to connect with top minds from the UK’s most successful and innovative retailers.

September 2024

Event: Cumbria Business Expo
Date: 20 September 2024
Location: Carlisle Racecourse, Carlisle, CA2 4TS
Website: shoutexpo.com
Brief: A large scale B2B exhibition offering a diversity of businesses from across a range of sectors where like-minded business leaders can meet, share information and enjoy a day of making valuable connections. The organisers are anticipating over 1,000 visitors from 9.00 am to the 3.00 pm finish.

October 2024

Event: Devon Business Show
Date: 16 October 2024
Location: Plymouth Pavilions, Plymouth, PL1 3LF
Website: devonchamber.co.uk/devon-business-show/
Brief: The show is managed by the Devon & Plymouth Chamber of Commerce. A chance to meet and connect with the region’s leading businesses and entrepreneurs.

Event: Bishop’s Stortford Means Business
Date: 23 October 2024
Location: South Mill Arts, Bishop’s Stortford, CM23 3JG
Website: www.bsmb.co.uk
Brief: Exhibitors will have the opportunity to showcase their business to 300+ visitors in one day. It’s free to attend and you’ll get the chance to chat to many of the towns’ top businesses. All exhibitors and visitors can also attend the free seminars which will take place throughout the day.

November 2024

Event: The Business Show
Date: 13-14 November 2023
Location: ExCeL London, Royal Victoria Dock, 1 Western Gateway, Royal Docks, London, E16 1XL
Website: www.greatbritishbusinessshow.co.uk
Brief: One of the biggest shows/exhibitions in the business networking calendar with around 750 exhibitors and 200 seminars. The event runs alongside the Business Startup show and has previously attracted around 25,000 visitors over its two days.

Event: Halton and Warrington Business Fair
Date: 14 November 2024
Location: DCBL Stadium, Widnes WA8 7DZ
Website: haltonbizfair.co.uk
Brief: A friendly and lively annual B2B event that regularly attracts around 40 exhibitors and hundreds of visitors from the local area and beyond.

Event: Leicester Business Festival
Date: 6-17 November 2024
Location: Various
Website: www.leicesterbusinessfestival.com
Brief: An annual fortnight of business events, held right across Leicester and Leicestershire. The first festival was held in 2015 and has become a fixture across the city and county. Events are free and anyone can attend. They vary in type, structure and size, across digital and in-person platforms, and from workshops and seminars to product demonstrations, showroom tours and round tables.

Event: Sales Innovation Expo
Date: 27-28 November 2024
Location: ExCeL London, Royal Victoria Dock, 1 Western Gateway, Royal Docks, London, E16 1XL
Website: www.salesinnovationexpo.co.uk
Brief: “Welcome to Europe’s leading sales event, the only show of its kind to provide thousands of the most proactive sales professionals, with the tips, tricks and techniques they need to transform themselves, and their companies, into the biggest names within the world of sales.”

The post UK Small Business Events and Exhibitions Calendar appeared first on Small Business UK.

Research from recruitment specialist Michael Page found that 73% of British workers factor workplace benefits in their decision to turn down a job. From motivating your team, to retaining and attracting new talent, workplace benefits have the potential to play a big role in your business’ success.

Key findings from PageGroup study*

• 82% think businesses over-complicate workplace benefits
• 37% of respondents did not know what their benefits package comprised of before they accepted the job
• 65% were surprised to find a particular benefit was available only after working in a role for some time
• 85% said a flexible benefits package was desirable to them but only 20% were completely satisfied with their current package
• The most popular benefits were flexible working (71%) and the ability to work from home (55%)

* Survey conducted among 1,000 UK adults 18+ years

Employee health and wellbeing

Companies such as Airbnb that offer holiday allowances to employees, and Netflix, that doesn’t have prescribed time off policies for salaried employees, are a new breed of organisation pioneering benefit concepts that appeal to a new generation of job candidates. Rather than focusing on conventional monetary benefits, there is a clear trend towards providing employees with a better quality of life, both inside and outside of work.

Deloitte predicts that millennials will make up 75% of the global workforce by 2025, and much research suggests that their motivations and values are different from the baby boomers before them.

A recent study by Fit Small Business found that, while many businesses are introducing novel benefits geared towards ‘millennials’ such as free holidays and office dogs, 34% of those aged 18-34 stated that they actually see healthcare as the most important benefit that their employer can offer.

Not only are healthcare and wellbeing benefits now proving popular with the latest generation of workers, benefits related to wellbeing are becoming a strong tool to help businesses maximise their profits, with advantages including the retention of employees, increased productivity, and fewer workplace accidents.

The World Health Organisation compiled a list of the advantages of health promotion at work, which includes:

• Promoting a caring public image
• Improving staff morale
• Reducing staff turnover
• Lowering absenteeism
• Increasing productivity.

Common wellbeing initiatives offered by companies to their workers include stress management, weight loss support, and gym membership; all of which are proven to keep your team engaged with a belief in the organisation and a willingness to ‘go the extra mile’.

Wellbeing initiatives can be implemented based on business objectives, incorporated as flexible benefits that address particular HR concerns, or can be based on employee feedback. When benefits are driven by feedback, it can encourage increased engagement in wellbeing efforts.

Employee engagement is a critical part of a company’s success – the staff are the means by which the business plan is executed, and their engagement determines the company’s outcomes.

When employees are engaged with their job, they are connected with the company’s overall vision and see their role as integral to achieving the organisation’s aims. It is a positive emotional attachment to their work.

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has identified three parts to employee engagement:

• Physical – When they’re engaged with their job, employees go all-out to complete their work, using high levels of energy to fulfil tasks
• Emotional – Having an emotional connection to their work means employees are strongly involved in what they are doing, and have a sense of purpose. They are inspired and challenged by their job
• Cognitive – Employees are fully immersed in their work – and less likely to ‘drift off’ on the job.

When teams are engaged on each of these levels, they are more invested in their work. But according to Gallup, we are facing a worldwide engagement crisis that could have long-lasting effects on the global economy. Gallup’s research revealed that worldwide, 87% of employees are not engaged with their organisation. It also found that companies whose workforces are highly engaged outperform their competitors by a staggering 147% in earnings per share.

How to elevate your employees’ engagement levels

If your employees are not engaged, you could be putting yourself at a competitive disadvantage. Businesses that can improve engagement levels among staff stand to improve their profits, retain talent and gain customer loyalty. Here are some tips to help bring employees on board.

Empower staff

When your team feels empowered they will feel more engaged at work. According to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas), good leadership should empower and motivate rather than control.

Embed company values

Another key ingredient is company values – these should be embedded throughout the organisation, and ‘lived on not just spoken’.

Promote positive relationships among colleagues

Bad blood among colleagues will most certainly result in a disengaged team. To create engagement, build a supportive environment in which employees help each other and treat each other with respect and integrity. Management can help promote this positive culture by focusing on the strengths of employees as a team, not praising individual performance.

Creating a culture of engagement

Engagement involves a cultural shift in the way organisations behave. It should be rooted into the business culture, rather than addressed annually, for instance when staff return an employee survey. Employee engagement should be at the forefront of every interaction between management and their teams.

Focus on strengths, not weaknesses

Research from Gallup shows that when management focuses on strengths rather than weaknesses, the result is greater engagement among staff. It found that employees learn their roles more quickly, produce more and significantly better work, and stay with their company longer. When managers support their employees’ growth and development by focusing on their strengths, team members are more than twice as likely to be engaged.

Shared goals

Employees are more engaged when they have a strong connection to shared goals, and an understanding of how their role fits in with the wider organisation. When staff are aligned with company objectives, they – and the company – are more likely to be successful.

Pietro Carmignani is UK country manager at Gympass. 

Further resources on employee engagement and wellbeing

• How to reinvigorate your workforce and make engagement a priority – Phil Sheridan, senior managing director of Robert Half UK, on the benefits of making employee engagement a priority
• New Engaged Employer Report Highlights Key Benefits for Attracting and Retaining Talent – This report from Moorepay is available to download
• How to improve employee motivation in the workplace – We chat to the business owners that managed to create a motivated and engaged workforce, and explore how you can recreate their success
• 6 ways to minimise work-related stress and health problems – Gemma Harding encourages business owners and managers to make the effort to help your employees towards better mental health

The post How to elevate employee engagement levels appeared first on Small Business UK.

In an increasingly crowded marketplace, more and more businesses are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) tools to boost their marketing efforts.

AI can help to drive sales, improve customer journey, automate repetitive tasks and facilitate fraud detection and prevention – an extra spot of reassurance for your customers.

Here, we’ll be explaining what to look for in AI marketing tools and taking a peek at what’s on the market right now.

You won’t find an all-rounder product that has AI functionality for every part of your marketing plan. Rather, they’ll focus on key areas such as your SEO, content or analytics.

Harvey Morton, founder of Harvey Morton Digital, explains what AI tools you could utilise to better your business.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) tools

AI-powered SEO tools assist marketers in optimising their websites and content for search engines. These tools offer features such as keyword research, content optimisation and competitor analysis to improve rankings and organic traffic.

Content strategy platforms

These are AI marketing tools to automate content creation and optimisation. They generate high-quality, SEO-friendly content tailored to specific keywords and niches, saving time and ensuring content performs well on search engines.

Social media marketing tools

AI tools for social media marketing aid in audience segmentation, content scheduling and sentiment analysis. Marketers can create highly targeted and engaging social media campaigns that resonate with their audiences.

Google Ads optimisation software

AI-driven tools optimise Google Ads campaigns by automating bidding strategies, analysing ad performance and refining targeting parameters. This maximises the return on investment for paid advertising efforts.

Email marketing automation solutions

AI-powered email marketing tools segment audiences, optimise send times and personalise email content. Marketers can create more effective email campaigns and increase engagement with subscribers.

Predictive analytics platforms

These tools utilise AI algorithms to analyse historical data and predict future trends and customer behaviours. Marketers can make data-driven decisions for their digital marketing strategies, improving overall effectiveness.

Chatbots and virtual assistants

AI chatbots and virtual assistants enhance customer engagement by providing 24/7 support, answering queries, and offering product recommendations. They improve user experiences and boost customer satisfaction.

AI marketing tools use machine learning algorithms to make tasks such as content writing easier. They analyse customer data from places where customers dwell such as social media, email and engagement with your customers. This in turn gives interesting insights into customer behaviour and trends.

On the plus side, Morton says that tools like these can boost output at a lower cost and increase customer engagement while giving you accurate insights to drive your marketing plan and reach your goals.

Data from Sitecore tells us that the top three benefits of using AI for marketing are:

• Being able to do faster market research on prospects and customers (70 per cent)
• Create and scale content faster (65 per cent)
• Inspire future campaigns and ideas (63 per cent)

However, there are downsides to these tools. They must be used responsibly, especially when handling sensitive information. Morton points out that small businesses must ensure that they have proper data protection measures in place when using AI marketing tools. “Respecting customer privacy and complying with data protection regulations is crucial for maintaining trust and loyalty,” he added.

Content is also a sticky subject here. Left entirely to AI’s devices, content can come across as cold, bland and clearly not written by a human. “As a digital marketing consultant, I’ve been aware of a couple of instances of clients using AI for social media content and copy, and the output is often not very good. It’s easy to spot when somebody is using AI for content generation and it’s not genuine,” said Morton.

To combat this, you need to teach the AI your tone of voice, but more importantly, ask a human to have a glance over any copy to ensure it doesn’t read like robot drivel. Morton recommends having a person responsible for marketing output and to consider working with a freelancer for £250-£500 a month.

Simon Bacher, founder of the Ling app, also warns of the potential complexity, cost considerations and the risk of over-reliance on technology when using AI platforms.

So, is it time for you to adopt an AI marketing platform? Peter Wood, entrepreneur and chief strategy officer at Spectrum Search, told Small Business that when considering AI marketing tools for businesses, especially small ones, it’s paramount to focus on practicality and scalability. “As someone deeply entrenched in the tech industry and AI innovation, I’ve observed that small businesses often grapple with the allure of cutting-edge tools that promise grand outcomes but lack practical applicability in their specific contexts.”

He recommends starting with AI tools that enhance customer interaction and engagement, pointing out that tools that provide insights into customer behaviour, predict trends and automate responses can be particularly beneficial. That being said, tools must have a proven track record of delivering results for similar-sized companies – this could be in the form of case studies or testimonials, for example. If they’re available, consider starting with a trial period to get an idea of the tool’s effectiveness for your business’ needs.

“Innovation doesn’t necessarily mean adopting the most advanced technology available; it often means utilising the right technology effectively,” said Wood. “For small businesses, this could mean choosing AI tools that integrate seamlessly with their existing systems, are user-friendly, and/or offer tangible benefits in terms of time and cost savings, as well as improved customer engagement.”

We’ve gathered a selection of AI marketing tools that serve various functions, detailing what they’re used for, along with features and cost.

Jasper.ai

https://www.jasper.ai/

What is it for? Writing commercial copy 

Features:

• AI everywhere with browser extension
• AI Google Docs integration
• Output content in your brand’s tone of voice
• Different dashboard views

Cost

Creator: $39 (£31) per month

Teams: $99 (£78) per month

Business: Bespoke

ManyChat

https://manychat.com/

What is it for? Reaching customers on social media

Features:

• Identify interested leads and reengaging without running retargeting ad campaigns
• Auto respond to messages
• AI assistant and plug and play templates to build automations
• Customised marketing chat campaign

Cost

Free: £0

Pro: $15 (£12) per month

Premium: Bespoke

AlliAI

https://www.alliai.com/

What is it for? SEO

Features:

• Bulk OnPage optimisation
• Schema mark-up
• Interlinks
• Live editor

Cost

Consultant: $299 (£236) per month

Agency: $599 (£470) per month

Enterprise: $1,119 (£885) per month

Reply

https://reply.io/

What is it for? Sales

Features:

• B2B contact and customer base
• Build prospect lists
• AI-backed multichannel systems
• Analyse outreach results
• A/B testing

Cost

Free: $0

Starter: $60 (£47) per user, per month

Professional: $90 (£71) per user, per month

Custom: Bespoke

Influencity

https://influencity.com/

What is it for? Influencer marketing

Features:

• Find and analyse influencers
• Curate lists and manage relationships with influencer database
• Manage campaigns
• Access fast and unbiased statistics

Cost

Custom: Bespoke

Basic: $134 (£106) per month

Professional: $278 (£220) per month

Business: $558 (£441) per month

Tableau

https://tableau.com/en-gb/solutions/ai-analytics

What is it for? Analytics and data visualisation

Features:

• Augmented analytics
• Forecasting
• Predictive modelling functions
• R and Python integrations

Cost

Tableau Viewer: £12 per user per month

Tableau Explorer: £34 per user per month

Tableau Creator: £60 per user per month

Rytr

https://rytr.me/

What is it for? Writing emails

Features:

• Blog ideas and writing
• Business idea pitches
• Create calls to action
• Write social media ads
• Keyword extractor

Cost

Free plan: £0

Saver plan: $9 (£7) per month

Unlimited plan: $29 (£23) per month

Looka

https://looka.com/

What is it for? Logo design

Features:

• Logo maker
• 300+ branded templates
• All accessible in one dashboard

Cost

From $20 (one-off) for a basic logo package

Brand kit subscription from $96 (£76) per year

Writesonic

https://writesonic.com/

What is it for? Content creation and optimisation

Features:

• AI article writer
• Paraphrasing tool
• Text summariser
• Story generator
• Landing page generator

Cost

Free: $0
Small Team: $13 (£10) per month
Freelancer: $16 (£12.50) per month

Which AI marketing tool is right for my business?

Unfortunately, only you can know that. Take stock of what your business needs and how tools like the ones above can slot into your existing operations. Good luck!

Benefits of chatbots for your business – Chatbots can make customer service more efficient, cost-effective and achieve better customer satisfaction

7 best email marketing software for UK businesses – Factors to consider include the number of recipients you need to mail out to, design customisation to match the brand, integrations, data migration and ease of use

How to write a marketing plan – This guide offers practical advice on developing and writing a marketing plan using simple English

The post AI marketing tools for your business appeared first on Small Business UK.

You will find that a lot of guides to writing a marketing plan are heavily laden with marketing jargon; buzzwords that may sound impressive, but upon closer inspection mean very little. This guide offers practical advice on how to write a marketing plan using plain English.

Why write a marketing plan?

Put simply, the aim of developing a marketing plan is to map out how you can gain more customers for your business, which strategies or tactics are right for your business, and how and when you are going to use them.

It should detail who you intend to sell to, how you will sell to them and how you will let them know about your business.

The marketing plan may form part of your overall business plan as a complement to investor presentations, or you may want to write a marketing plan as a separate document.

The focus should be on gaining new customers, persuading current customers to buy more often and getting inactive customers to return. They’re also useful for establishing what your strengths and weaknesses are as a business, who your key competitors are and what campaigns they’re running.

We’ll be looking at what you should be doing before you write up your marketing plan, how to write one, and examples of common elements you’ll find in a marketing plan.

Before you write a marketing plan

You need to identify the target audience you are aiming your product or service at, or indeed clarify whether there even is one.

Too many small businesses fail because they haven’t done enough market research. Don’t just rely on what your friends and family say, as they may not be the most objective observers.

>See also: Guidelines for conducting market research for small businesses

A market from which you can profit will be made up of people who need your product, or at least have a perceived need, and who will be willing to pay for it. Understanding your customers will allow you to identify the best way to sell to them.

Think about your product or service and who is likely to spend money on it. Remember, if you aim to sell to absolutely everyone, you will be less successful than if you can narrow down your market focus. A product or service aimed at everybody is one aimed at nobody.

Conduct face-to-face interviews

If appropriate, get out there and conduct some market research face-to-face. Ask people in the street if they can see the need for your type of business in the area and how much they would be willing to pay.

Survey the market

Identify who your competitors are and try to spot any weaknesses in their strategy. Can you capitalise on this? Is there a lot of competition in that area or will you be filling a gap? If not, could you find somewhere else more suitable?

How to write a marketing plan

Your marketing plan should consist of two halves: the brand proposition and the communication plan. The brand proposition defines your reason for being and why you answer a need, while the communication plan explains how you’re going to get the message out there.

Know your brand proposition

You need to spell out the thinking behind the brand you want to establish. Why should people care? A clear brand proposition will contain some form of:

Purpose of the brand: the purpose should define what you do – we exist to….? If you find that difficult, try defining what you don’t do – sometimes that marks businesses out from the competition. For example, “We are a locally produced soap product that only uses vegan ingredients not tested on animals.”

A purpose doesn’t need to be a perfectly crafted strapline, nor it is it likely to be seen by the public, but it should reflect what your business stands for.

Who your target customer is: who you think should notice and care about what you are offering – and why. The more focused this is, the better. If you have several focused customer groups then there should be a sense of priorities, possibly distinguishing between their value and the order in which you’ll go after them – these are not always the same.

When thinking about your target customer, try not to think in terms of demographics, such as “Young mums aged between 25 to 34” and more in terms of values, such as, “Environmentally aware women supportive of local independent businesses”.

Pro tip: Visualise your perfect customer and sketch out how they spend their day to tap into their mindset, attitudes and behaviours. Are they cost conscious? Then explain how a bar of more expensive vegan soap is better value than cheap shower gel. Creating this pen portrait may also help you figure out the best time of day to communicate with them.

What is unique about you? What makes your business better than the competition; some use the term unique selling point (USP) but really, it’s what makes you stand out from the crowd. You need to demonstrate what it is about your product, service or business model that will give consumers the reason to believe you.

What is behind the name: If this is not perfectly obvious (usually a good place to be with a name) then what is the story behind your company name? Is there an anecdote you can use in marketing or a press release?

>See also: Britain’s funniest business names

Tone of voice: This is important. The way you want to show up in front of your potential customers, the kind of language you would use, your house style, must be consistent. If you are setting yourself up as a financial adviser, for example, you would want to reassure and be patrician. A novelty kid’s product might be zany. Ben & Jerry’s ice cream still has a Sixties counterculture vibe, even though it’s owned by Unilever.

Pro tip: Create a mood board to illustrate the tone of voice, other brands or services which have the same kind of ethos to yours.

Communication plan

If the brand proposition is to get everybody excited, the communication plan is how you get the message across. Again, this will be defined by your target audience. Marketing channels to consider include:

• Direct marketing – either through mail or hand-delivered flyers
• Social media – where does you target audience like to go? Instagram, TikTok or if it’s an older demographic, Facebook
• Out of home advertising – the cost of renting space on a digital billboard can be less than you think. Digital screens typically cost £1,000 a week, according to 75Media.
• Events and trade shows – best for B2B businesses where you can meet potential customers

Make it short, concise and easy for the rest of your team to understand

Indeed, you may have to pass this on to other members of your team – or other parts of the business altogether – so keep it clear and accessible.

“I think that a marketing-centric business needs to have something that someone who isn’t marketing trained can read through and be like, ‘Yeah, okay, I get that. I know where we’re headed,’” said Rachael Dines, founder of Shake it Up Creative, a marketing firm that helps small businesses write their marketing plans.

Dines has developed her own template, ensuring that it’s very bright and that it’s got clear sections for each of the different areas discussed with her clients. “People could update either one or more sections or the whole thing if they need to over time,” she told Small Business.

Setting a budget

You also need to think about cost. Setting a budget is important and will help keep your advertising spend in check. Consider which of these marketing strategies will give the best return on investment.

“The question I always get asked is, ‘Well, how much budget should I have?’ And that’s not always a set percentage,” said Dines. “But I think you have to look at spending it very wisely. Of course, we know that marketing is a bit experimental. But reviewing it regularly is very important.”

To measure your return on investment (ROI), look at anything that you can track digitally, such as unique tracking codes that can be used, utilising analytics to see where visitors are coming from and whether the specific campaigns that’s utilising all the social media platform insights to get that engagement data, any kind of sales figures that align with marketing activities and marketing, said Dines.

“It can be hard to track because sometimes it takes people a few goes of seeing something before they start to interact with it. It’s never completely accurate, but give yourself a good idea. It’s using a mix of tools, not just relying on one thing.” This could be looking at email open rate, pay per click (PPC), web traffic or video engagement.

You could even ask similar businesses in another area how they go about advertising. You would be surprised how generous people are with their time. Speak to people in a similar situation, but preferably not the businesses against which you will be competing directly.

Get the message across

Having clearly defined goals will allow you to keep an eye on how you are progressing over a set period of time.

Does the message you are putting across need to be short and sharp, or will you customers be willing to spend more time learning about what you have to offer? Either way, there are some key points to consider, which should be included in your marketing material to make it more persuasive:

• Explain the problem facing your customer and identify a need for your product or service
• Emphasise that it is important to solve that problem
• Explain what makes your company different and why it will benefit people to buy through you
• If you have them, give examples of satisfied customers and their comments
• Explain prices and how to pay clearly and concisely
• If you can, give some sort of guarantee as to the quality of your work or product, or offer incentives or discounts for responding within a set time period.

Set targets and review progress

Having clearly defined goals will allow you to keep an eye on how you are progressing over a set period of time. Use SMART targets as a useful way of approaching this area. SMART means that your targets should be:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Time-specific

You could include sales targets and the amount of profit you are looking to achieve, targets for enquiry levels and so on.

Once a month, you should conduct a short review of progress to see how you are getting on and whether these targets need to be adjusted. However, don’t jump to re-adjust targets immediately if you aren’t hitting them. There may be something else in your marketing strategy that could be changed and will allow you to achieve more.

“When I do a plan, I generally go through who the target market is, what the products are, pricing and the process and timings,” said Dines.

Detail is key here. “Normally, it’s that people have things they want to achieve, but they don’t put a time on it. They’re not specific enough. Some of them will just say, ‘Oh, we would like to do X, but there isn’t a time on there.’ There’s no drive or endpoint for them to work to. And they won’t know how long to do their activities for, how much budget would apply to it, etc. That’s the fundamental mistake.”

As mentioned, reviewing the plan can also help you learn from any mistakes and help you adjust. When you write your marketing plan always bear in mind your desired results. The plan is therefore an important tool to help you author your business future.

Dines says that marketing plans don’t tend to be published and are kept internally. However, you might find examples online from larger companies or templates from marketing businesses.

Most are online or in print, but there are exceptions. Coca-Cola did part of their 2020 marketing plan in the form of a video:

The one thing to remember is that the following examples should be used as guides, so don’t rigidly follow them. Each marketing plan will look slightly different depending on the needs, audience and aesthetic of your business.

Bear in mind that a lot of the examples below are stylised too. You can just create Word docs or Excel spreadsheets if that works for you.

Here are said examples. Your marketing plan could be made up of any or all of these things.

Executive summary

This is a rundown of your business and what it does. It also includes a bit of information on market need, target customer and what’s coming up of the firm.

Source: Shopify

Target customers

Source: Venngage

USP

Your unique selling point (USP) sets you apart from your competitors and re-establishes market need.

Source: Shopify

SWOT analysis

You may have come across SWOT analyses before. They look at strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for your marketing to help drive your plan forward.

Source: Zapier

Competitor analysis

This can also help to drive your plan based on what your competitors are doing. Either filling in for their shortcomings or taking inspiration from what they do well.

Source: Venngage

Action programmes

This can be seen as an outline for what’s coming up, sometimes driven by your SWOT analysis. It’s generally one year up to five years, though it still needs to be reviewed regularly.

Source: Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs

Budgets

This will give you an idea of how to get your plan into action and where you can move some money around.

Source: Smartsheet

There may even be sections that aren’t here that you feel are more fitting to your business and its marketing goals.

If you’re still flummoxed by the whole thing, then don’t worry – help is out there!

“There are lots of organisations and support that is available either at county level, or sometimes via various partnerships, like Enterprise Nation or your Chamber of Commerce,” said Dines. “There will always be someone nearby that you could maybe have a power hour with or get a grant to work with.”

Further reading

E-marketing made easy

The post How to write a marketing plan appeared first on Small Business UK.

If done well email marketing can still deliver dependable results. With the sales funnel becoming ever more complicated and GDPR around the corner, now more than ever, businesses need to take charge of every part of the customer journey. Here Andrea Blair from Hallam Internet, takes you through an email marketing checklist for success.

Marketing departments should be thinking about communicating with their customers at many different touch points. Therefore, there is a pretty long list of things that email marketing can be used for; the main ones being:

1. Obtaining new customers
2. Improving customer loyalty
3. Building brand awareness
4. Tracking and measuring behaviour
5. Testing new products and services
6. Generating sales

Email marketing used to be about mass messaging. These days are gone, and have been replaced by a channel that delivers a unique personalised experience. The vast amount of data being collected has allowed us to target based on behaviours and various other elements.

Getting email marketing right can often be a difficult task. Once you hit that send button, there’s no going back. Avoid any disasters by running through this email marketing checklist:

1. Nail Your Strategy

Before you even start to think about sending mass messages out to the world, you need to make sure you have a clear brand strategy. It seems like a bit of a no-brainer, but knowing how you are perceived in the outside world and the behaviours of your target audience are key before you start looking into email marketing. Ask yourselves the following questions:

• Are you clear about your competitive positioning?
• Is this the right distribution channel for your target audience?

Do you have a solid message that stands out from your competitors, and offers the best in the market?

2. Use Email Marketing Software

Use or invest in email marketing automation software. There are a lot of good free tools out there for smaller companies who have smaller list sizes, the main one being MailChimp.

For those bigger databases, you may find restrictions on list sizes and template constraints mean that you’ll have to invest a bit in this. Most of the top email marketing automation tools are really simple to use and allow for things like personalisation and split testing, to make sure you’re communicating and not spamming. Some tools that are worth considering are MailChimp, Vertical Response, Campaign Monitor and Acoustic Connect.

Examples of marketing email software include:

• Acoustic Connect – Acoustic Connect (formerly Silverpop) is a multi-channel marketing platform that covers email, social media and SMS messaging. Its email marketing tool that has a drag and drop editor, AI assistance and behavioral insights.
• ActiveCampaign – ActiveCampaign offers a suite of pre-made automation workflows and over 250 B2B and B2C-friendly email templates. You can split test up to five different email versions to see which performs best. The platform also integrates with PayPal, Stripe, Shopify and hundreds of other software providers.
• AWeber – AWeber is a very good option for beginners as it offers templates based on your website’s URL alone, images from Canva (as well as thousands of stock images) and help from an AI design assistant. It also offers free 3,000 emails for 500 subscribers.
• Campaign Monitor – Like AWeber, Campaign Monitor can draft up an email’s design based off a URL alone, basing it on the brand colours and logo.
• ConvertKit – ConvertKit is geared towards those in creative roles. Its free plan allows unlimited emails and landing pages and the ability to sell subscriptions and digital products.
• Mailchimp – Mailchimp works for businesses of all sizes and complexities. It has a drag and drop editor, email automations (a way of targeting customers automatically based on behavior, such as a purchase) and AI suggestions.
• MailerLite – Like AWeber, MailerLite is a great option for beginners as it not only has numerous templates, a free image gallery and an easy-to-use drag and drop editor, but can craft email copy with it’s AI assistant (well, ChatGPT).
• Vertical Response – Vertical Response offers various easy-to-use email marketing and landing page templates with the option of automated follow-up emails, A/B testing and an AI-powered content assistant. Its deep insights tool is very useful in identifying where your recipients click, the devices they used to open the email and where they’re located, so you can better personalise emails to them in future.

3. Follow These Tips When Composing “the Email”

Pay attention to that subject line, as that’s what drives the recipient to open your email. Keep it short, precise and engaging. The majority of emails are now read on mobile, so make sure the important bits aren’t being cut off. Most importantly, don’t forget to check it for spelling errors.

• Urgency – make the user think that they have to click through
• Curiosity – keep a little bit back to improve the chances of people clicking through
• What are you offering? – people will be more likely to click through if there is something in it for them
• Personalisation – know your audience and share relevant timely information

Segmentation remains one of the highest priorities in email marketing. The one size fits all approach of email marketing is no longer working – although you could argue that it never did work. Using your existing data to segment your emails means that you are delivering a relevant and specific experience, which will ultimately make your campaigns more successful.

Write compelling copy: ensure it is short, catchy, and engaging. Invest time in creating and repurposing good content, and its content that will get customers to open the message and hopefully continue to read, as you send them. Don’t forget the call to action.

4. Check Before You Hit Send

Is it mobile friendly? It is important not to overlook how your message comes across on different devices. Emails might still convert better on desktop, but recipients may make a decision from viewing it through mobile first! Your email marketing template needs to be responsive on mobile devices. Most email automation tools will offer this as standard, but it’s best to check.

The goal of email marketing is to get people to visit your website, so make sure you link back. Added bonus if it’s a dedicated landing page, if you want to increase conversions. Check all your links – there is nothing more irritating than a broken link or one that goes to the wrong landing page.

Check the version of the email is going to the correct list. It is common to create two versions of the same email based on behaviours.

Check your spelling and grammar, then check again. Get someone else to check. Customers are quick to pick up on these things and it could damage your brand massively. This is a vital check that you will find a lot of people don’t bother to perform.

See also: Five email marketing mistakes your start-up is making

5. Follow up and Improve

Report, review and improve. Email marketing is not about setting up your campaigns and walking away. Check your reports or stats following every email, and monitor the negative results and look for ways to improve.

6. Don’t forget GDPR

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a new digital privacy regulation being introduced on the 25th May 2018. Businesses are now required to offer new consumer opt-in permission rules, and need to store and manage proof of consent. They should also offer a method through consumers can ask for their personal information removed.

I would recommend taking legal advice, to make sure you know where you stand. But for starters, you should at the very least, take an audit of your current databases. Know all of your contacts, and how you acquired them. Be transparent and review and disclose your data practices, and think of the future, so look at your upcoming initiatives to ensure compliance now.

In conclusion, email marketing is still an essential marketing tool, by far working as a better conversion tool than social platforms. By following this email marketing checklist, you can ensure that your email marketing campaigns are accurate, engaging and reach your recipient no matter which device they choose to view your message.

Andrea Blair is a digital strategist at Hallam Internet

Further reading on email marketing

Top ten tips to mastering an email marketing campaign – Here, Tom Gottlieb, email marketing team leader at Wix.com, advises us on his top tips for running an email marketing campaign.

Reactivate your email list and re-engage subscribers – Inactive subscribers can be a drag on your email list. But a re-engagement campaign can get them involved and provide useful intel for your business

The post A guide to successful email marketing appeared first on Small Business UK.

The proportion of businesses that are exporting goods and services has fallen to an eight-year low.

The Times reported a survey polling 3,000 firms which have revenues of over £500,000. Carried out in February and May this year, it found that the proportion of active exporters has fallen to 31 per cent. When it published the findings from the same survey in August the proportion was 34 per cent for 2022 – the annual figure hasn’t been below than 33 per cent since records began back in 2015.

Official trade data released on Wednesday (December 13) showed that the value of goods exports measured at current prices had risen by 1.2 per cent in October while the value of services exports remained steady. There was a 5.8 per cent fall in the value of goods exported to the EU and an 8.2 per cent in the value of non-EU exports. The British Chamber of Commerce said the drop in EU goods exports for the second month running was ‘a major concern’.

William Bain, head of trade at the British Chamber of Commerce, said: “We would urge policymakers to take further measures to support exports, especially to the EU.”

Of the exporters polled by the Department for Business and Trade, 29 per cent reported a decrease in service exports while 20 per cent said that they had increased. Firms selling goods reported a 38 per cent fall in exports against a 20 per cent rise.

Just over half of respondents agreed with the following statement: “Since the UK left the EU in 2020 there has been less demand for UK goods and services.” A little under a quarter disagreed. Of the companies experiencing problems with their supply chain, 68 per cent blamed Brexit, followed by the state of the economy.

Those who were actively exporting said that America, Australia, the EU, India and the Gulf states were ‘core markets.’ The main barrier to doing more exporting was custom-related red tape for goods along with overseas regulations and bureaucracy for those selling services, according to the companies surveyed.

Recently, UK Exporting Finance announced support for SME exporters.     

Exporting goods abroad: A complete guide for small businesses – In this article, we present the main considerations for a business looking to break into international markets – and look at two businesses that found success in exporting

The post Business exporting drops to 8-year low appeared first on Small Business UK.

Small business owners say they are being straitjacketed by banks, having to take out personal guarantees for loans to growth their businesses.

Acting on their behalf, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has issued a super-complaint to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to highlight the harsh lending practices of banks that excessively demand personal guarantees for business loans.

Personal guarantees can be a “straitjacket” on business growth, forcing entrepreneurs to put their homes or other assets at risk when taking out finance.

What is a personal guarantee on a business loan? – A significant portion of business lending is through unsecured loans – these often require a personal guarantee. This article looks at what they actually are and their pros and cons

In some cases, small business owners take out insurance against having to use the personal guarantee, adding to the cost of the loan.

Personal guarantees can be particularly paralysing when they are applied to small loans – leaving many business owners more likely to abandon business growth plans or push them into being over-cautious in their decision-making, deterred from making bold choices, argues the FSB.

Around 45 per cent of business owners back away from finance if a personal guarantee is attached, according to a May 2021 Purbeck Personal Guarantee Insurance survey.

Currently, the FCA cannot get involved in these type of lending decisions, which are outside of its remit. The FSB wants this to change.

A limited company is meant to limit the liability of company directors, but personal guarantees most often apply to loans taken out by companies and guaranteed by their directors – corrupting the concept of limited liability.

Martin McTague, national chairman of the FSB, said: “Put yourself in the shoes of an entrepreneur who’s created a promising business and is keen to grow. You approach your bank for a small loan, but they say you can only have the money if you sign a personal guarantee which would ultimately put your family home or other assets at risk. This is a straitjacket on small business growth.

“It is no wonder that many small business owners in that position are telling us they are choosing to avoid external funding which they could be using to capitalise on new opportunities.

“It’s bad news for the individual business – and, zooming out, it’s bad news for the economy as a whole, at a time when we’re looking for economic growth and productivity gains.”

More on personal guarantees

SMEs don’t understand personal guarantee in business loans – There is a fundamental lack of understanding regarding loan conditions from small business owners – specifically personal guarantees, a new study finds.

The post Personal guarantees for loans stifling growth, say business owners appeared first on Small Business UK.

The purpose of email marketing is to inform your customers and leads of what’s new at your business – be that offers, new stock, what’s best for the season or as a means to get them to engage on your website.

To best engage your leads, content must be relevant, personalised and be a clear representation of the brand. Email marketing software can help your business achieve this, with easy-to-se drag and drop editors, personalisation tools and AI-generated content to help when you’re struggling for words.

What is email marketing software?

Email marketing software allows businesses to create, send and track emails to their customers and leads.

To maximise the effectiveness of email marketing, your business will need email software that is best suited to its needs. Factors to consider include the number of recipients you need to mail out to, easy-to-use design customisation that allows you insert your logo and colourways, integrations with other relevant software and data migration.

Email marketing software providers offer varying levels of all these factors with price points to match.

7 best email marketing software for UK businesses

Brevo

Brevo’s marketing platform is a relatively cheap option if you’re a small business at £16 a month for a starter package which allows upwards of 20,000 emails a month, customizable email templates, basic reporting and email support. Brevo also has a CRM platform which you can integrate with the email software.

Highlights:

• Automation tools
• Drag and drop editor
• Campaign analysis

Price: £16 a month (starter package for smaller businesses)

Campaigner

Campaigner has a list verification tool that every now and then scans your contact list, rating and flagging any that could result in bounces.

Its drag and drop editor is easy to use (though there’s also an HTML editor) and is completely compatible with all mobile devices, without compromising on quality or functionality.

Highlights:

• Personalisation tools, including by geo location and buying behavior
• Drag and drop editor
• 24/7 support

Price: From £42 per month (starter plan)

Get Response

Get Response offers an affordable software solution from just £10 per month. With that, you get unlimited monthly emails, an AI-powered email generator, A/B testing and Google Analytics tracking.

Highlights:

• AI-powered newsletters
• AI-powered analytics
• Data-driven segmentation
• Integration with over 170 e-commerce platforms
• 24/7 support

Price: From £10 per month

Campaign Monitor

Campaign Monitor One helpful feature is how easy it is to customise to fit your branding. By inserting your URL, the editor will automatically import the brand colours and logo. Another unique feature is Campaign Monitor’s link review, which detects any broken links and flags any that need your attention.

Highlights:

• Drag and drop editor
• Mobile optimisation
• AI tools
• Segmentation and personalization
• Automatic transactional emailing
• Email analytics
• Software integrations

Price: £16 per month (for essentials package)

HubSpot

Like other email marketing software on this list, HubSpot offers a drag and drop editor for ease of use. One differentiator, though, is what HubSpot claims to be superior email deliverability, ensuring it hits the right folder in the customer inbox. HubSpot also has AI tools which can generate copy for you if you’re suffering from writer’s block. The downside is if you take just the email marketing product from HubSpot, it is far more expensive than the others on this list. If you already use the platform as your CRM, however, it is free.

Highlights:

• A/B testing
• Analytics
• AI copy generation

Price: Free with CRM (£702 a month without CRM)

Klaviyo

Like Mailchimp, Klaviyo has a range of templates which make it easy for a beginner to email marketing to get started.

Klaviyo offers advanced segmentation tools for personalization and makes good use of AI with subject line automation, predictive analytics and user recommendations based on their browsing history.

Highlights:

• Advanced segmentation
• Integration with over 300 software providers
• AI tools for personalised send-outs

Price: From $45 per month

Mailchimp

Mailchimp has drag and drop editor tools, meaning it can be easy to pick up for an email marketing beginner. It is also highly rated when it comes to email deliverability – i.e. avoiding the customer junk folder.

Mailchimp offers over 300 integrations with software providers – including Google Analytics so you can measure the success of your campaigns – as well as a host of AI tools such as abandoned cart notifications to help you achieve successful campaigns.

Highlights:

• 24/7 customer service
• 300+ integrations
• AI automation tools

Price: $20 per month (first month free)

More on email marketing

Reactivate your email list and re-engage subscribers – Inactive subscribers can be a drag on your email list. But a re-engagement campaign can get them involved and provide useful intel for your business

The post 7 best email marketing software for UK businesses appeared first on Small Business UK.

HMRC said it’s going to be restricting access to its telephone helpline in the lead up to January 31, one of its busiest periods.

Changes will be introduced from Monday December 11 and will last until the end of January, according to an announcement made on December 7.

The helpline team will be focusing on ‘priority calls’, i.e. those that cannot easily be dealt with online. Other queries will be directed to the website and HMRC’s online services. A similar system will be in place for the helpline used by accountants and agents.

Jim Harra, HMRC’s chief executive, said the department’s web services are ‘our best kept secret’, with an approval rate of over 80 per cent.

“The run-up to the January 31 deadline is one of the busiest times of year for us and our customers,” he said.

“While around 97 per cent of our SA customers file their return and pay their tax online, 5.5m of them ring our helpline with a query. Around two-thirds of calls to the SA helpline can be resolved far quicker through our online services.”

HMRC needs to reduce its volume of contact with the public via phone and post by at least 30 per cent by 2025, compared with 2021/22, so that it can deliver with the resources that it has. “We will increasingly expect customers to use our online services where they can,” said Harra.

In response, MPs on the Treasury Select Committee have posed a series of questions demanding reassurance that a “critical number of people do not end up being denied services they could reasonably expect from HMRC.”

Committee chair Harriet Baldwin said: “The Treasury Committee has repeatedly stressed our concern about the management of the self-assessment helpline, particularly when it closed with such short notice over the summer, leaving many struggling to access help with tax issues.

“Giving the public less than two working days’ notice of a significant reduction in service, while the deadline for self-assessment returns looms, is yet another alarming development for an increasingly pressured government service.”

Baldwin also said that more people would need to file a self-assessment tax return in the coming years as frozen thresholds cause fiscal drag.

John Barnett, chair of the Chartered Institute of Taxation’s technical policy and oversight committee, is worried about the risk of this move increasing non-compliance with tax rules, leading to extra penalties and fines, reports the Financial Times. Barnett argues that this would ultimately give more work to HMRC as well as taxpayers.

Victoria Todd, head of the Low Incomes Tax Reform Group, said she was concerned about the move forcing people into using digital services. “Forcing taxpayers to use services that are not up to scratch risks an erosion of trust in the tax system.”

Read more

Some self-employed unaware of HMRC rule change – Experts worry that the self-employed are not familiar with this change which will affect the way that they report profits

More firms closing down than starting up – More businesses are closing down than starting up for the first time in over a decade, with transport and storage firms being worst hit

UKEF reveals extra support for SME exporters – SME exporters will have fast-track access to finance products along with potentially greater access to markets in India

The post HMRC to limit helpline in run-up to tax return deadline appeared first on Small Business UK.

Entrepreneurs are facing more challenges than ever before. From the rapidly evolving economic environment, to the increasing need to do more with less, the pressures on small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) can feel overwhelming right now.

You’re probably looking for some solutions you can count on; tools that will make your life a little easier. That’s where Amazon Ads can help.

In 2022, more than 125,000 European small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) sold more than 1.2 billion products to Amazon customers worldwide. This is equivalent to more than 2,200 sales every minute, according to the 2023 Amazon EU Economic Impact Report. Advertising is helping these smaller brands get noticed; small and medium businesses in Europe saw 120% more glance views, on average, within 20 weeks of launching sponsored ads in their home country.

Successful brands don’t exist in a vacuum. Advertising with Amazon Ads is a great way for brands to help get in front of new customers. Think of them as ads that work whilst you work, eat, sleep and repeat. 

Advertising isn’t just for enterprise businesses

It’s a misconception that only big brands advertise on Amazon. Amazon Ads products are designed for everyone, including small businesses, and have helped these businesses grow their sales. In the UK, small businesses saw 23% of their sales, on average, driven by Amazon Ads.

No matter your budget, sponsored ads are designed to work within it. You can choose your ad products based on your goals, and in general, it’s possible to see results like ad impressions, clicks, or sales with a budget of around €10/£10 a day. We recommend starting with Sponsored Products, which are cost-per-click ads that promote individual product listings.

From here, you can move on to incorporating other products into your advertising mix to help with brand building, or reaching more customers, such as Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display. Sponsored Brands creative ads appear in relevant Amazon shopping results to help customers discover your brand, and Sponsored Display self-service display ads help you engage shoppers across their shopping journey, on and off Amazon.

With low barriers to entry and a flexible budget, Amazon Ads can be an affordable and effective marketing tool for entrepreneurs looking to grow their sales and expand their customer base.

Amazon Ads also provides valuable insights into your ad performance, allowing you to refine your targeting and messaging to improve return on ad spend (ROAS). 

Get your brand noticed by customers

Amazon Launchpad is a program that supports start-ups and small business owners across various stages of their business journey. For example, Amazon Launchpad helps entrepreneurs with marketing or with distributing their products to millions of Amazon customers around the world. To-date, Amazon Launchpad has helped small business owners launch over 4,000 new products. As part of Launchpad, those who sign up receive Amazon Ads click credits to spend on advertising.

Pier Carlo Montali, the CEO and co-founder of Security Watch, the company that invented the WinLet—an innovative portable female protection device—has seen success using solutions by Amazon Ads. Montali is a previous winner of the prestigious Launchpad Innovation Awards, and has since grown his business into a success story.

“We have been investing in Amazon Ads every day for almost a year,” said Montali. “It’s simple, you see immediate results and if you have a quality product, Amazon Ads can help you to sell large volumes right away. Investing in Amazon Ads allows you to be seen by customers who are ready to buy immediately and not by people who are browsing for information or are simply curious. In my opinion, this is the real added value of Amazon Ads and the reason why I would recommend it.”

Advertising on Amazon helps deliver results. Small and medium businesses in Europe saw 57% more sales, on average, within 20 weeks of launching sponsored ads in their home country.

Let Amazon Ads be a helping hand to your business and get started with advertising now.

Learn how Amazon Ads can help your small business.

The post How Amazon Ads is supporting entrepreneurs appeared first on Small Business UK.

If you’re considering starting a business involved in importing or exporting products, you’ll need to know about commodity codes and HS categories. These are used to classify goods for import and export, to make sure they’re moved safely and in compliance with customs, tax and duty regulations.

In this guide we’ll look at when and why commodity codes are used, what they look like, and how to find the right one for your needs.

Here’s all you need to know about commodity codes.

>See also: EU import changes – what’s changing from January 1

What are commodity codes?

A commodity code provides details of the goods you’re importing or exporting, such as what they are, what they’re made of, how they’re used and even how they’re packaged. This information is used for tracking imports into the country, and making sure that hazardous items are properly treated, but also for calculating import duty and VAT.

To import anything into the UK, you’ll need to make sure the right commodity code is included in its customs declaration. If you can’t correctly match your goods to the right code, you’ll not only be be paying the wrong customs duties but also risking serious legal consequences.

Possible consequences of using the wrong commodity code

• Having to pay top-up taxes (import VAT and duties)
• Having to pay a customs fine
• Having your deliveries delayed to frustrated customers
• Having your goods seized

You can find the correct commodity code using the online trade tariff lookup tool. Alternatively, you can get specific advice from HMRC, or use the Government-issued product classification guides to help.

Why you need to know about commodity codes

Commodity codes have a number of uses in import and export businesses. They’re used when completing paperwork for customs declarations and can influence the amount of tax and duty you pay to import or export a product. Using the correct commodity code is also important to make sure you’re following any relevant legal or safety regulations when importing products which might be dangerous or restricted.

Structure of the code post Brexit

Commodity codes now have to be included in the customs declaration that you will need to provide to clear any goods through UK or EU customs. This will make clear how much taxes – VAT and tariffs – you should be paying.

The UK is using the standard global 10-digit format, as does the EU, which can add 4-digit codes required to apply certain measures, such as trade defence or certain suspensions.

Commodity codes are made up with a range of digits that identify a particular product. They specify the type of product, materials used and the production method as follows:

• HS code digits: It starts with the global standard – Harmonised System, or 10-digit HS code. The UK has used this format since January 2021
• EU additional digits: The EU has added up to a further four – making potentially 14 in total. These extra EU numbers are: 2 digits CN heading (Combined Nomenclature); 2 digits TARIC (Integrated Tariff of the European Communities)

For example, if you search for the commodity code for “perfume” on the UK trade tariff search engine, the UK HS code is 3303001000.

You can find the EU commodity code through the Access2Markets online service, which should match in most cases.

Pro tip: The Access2Markets is geo-blocked if you’re in Great Britain and the country you enter in the “country from” field is an EU member state; although it’s not blocked if the “country from” is the UK.

It is possible that the EU and UK do not classify every item the same. However, as both are members of the World Customs Organisation, they apply the Harmonised System, which is expressly designed to achieve uniform classification across contracting parties.

Pro tip: If somebody is exporting from the EU then the EU export declaration would only require the EU commodity code to 8-digits. The longer commodity code would be required on the UK import declaration.

A UK business can use the Access2Markets (with the “country from” being the UK), to obtain a commodity code, truncate it to 8-digits for use on the EU export declaration.  Alternatively, you can use the advanced search function on the EU TARIC website and truncate.  

So with just a few numbers, the importers and exporters – and every other authority and organisation which handles the products on the way – know exactly what they’re dealing with.

Find your commodity code with the trade tariff look up

• Go to the UK government trade tariff look up page
• Hit Start Now
• Enter the search term you want to use – the dialogue box will automatically populate with common searches to help you
• Suggested commodity codes will appear, starting with the HS chapter and headings to help you narrow it down to the correct category of products
• You can continue to search the suggestions using other information, such as what the item is made of or how it is packaged
• Once you find the correct item type you’ll be shown the HS code, and any important information connected to this code – such as whether or not you need a licence to import or export items under this code.

What happens if you don’t have a commodity code or use an incorrect one?

If you use an incorrect commodity code, you might find that your goods are seized or delayed by customs. You might pay incorrect VAT or duty, and – if you pay too little – could be liable for extra fees and charges.

Some items can only be imported or exported with a licence, such as plants, animals, or anything potentially hazardous. If you try to move these products using an incorrect commodity code, you’ll be breaking the law, and will find yourself in serious legal trouble.

How to find out the right commodity code

Another option, if you can’t find the commodity code you’re looking for, is to ask HMRC for advice on the best fit code for your product. You can contact HMRC using the following email address:

classification.enquiries@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk

HMRC will respond to your email within five working days. The EU member states have various similar tools.

Before you ask for advice

You’ll need to include information about the product you’re planning to import or export, to get advice on the commodity code. Your message should include:

• Company name, if applicable
• Contact name
• Contact details (email address and a contact number)
• The option which best describes your item: agricultural, chemical, textiles or ceramics – including food, drink, plastics, cosmetics, sports equipment, games, toys, clothing, shoes, electrical, mechanical or miscellaneous – including vehicles, optical and measuring devices, machinery, musical instruments, metal, furniture, lighting, paper, printed matter, straw, glass, wood, jewellery
• What the goods are made of (if more than one material, provide a breakdown of materials)
• What the goods are used for
• How the goods work or function
• How the goods are presented or packaged
• Any code you think best fits your goods
• Part of the code if you’ve been able to partially classify it

You should send a separate email for each product you need help with.

>See also: How will Brexit affect my imports and exports? Where to find customs help

How to obtain an EU-wide BTI ruling

In some cases it might be helpful to apply for a BTI – a Binding Tariff Information ruling, to confirm your commodity code. It’s a legal document that confirms the commodity code agreed for the product you’re exporting, so there’s no guesswork involved.

Getting a BTI can be helpful because you’ll have certainty about the commodity code needed for your imports or exports. It doesn’t cost anything to get a BTI ruling, but you may need to pay if there are tests needed, for example, to determine the materials used in your product.

This ruling usually lasts for three years and is legally binding throughout the EU.

The EU operates a centralised EU Customs Trader Portal that all BTI ruling applications have to go through. All processes through this portal are now done electronically and you can find the relevant details and related resources here: European Commission Taxation and Customs Union – BTI

How to apply for a BTI ruling

tariff.classification@hmrc.gov.uk

Use the above email to apply to access the EU Customs Trader Portal if you’re based in Britain, putting “Enrolment EU Central Service” in the subject line, including your EORI number.

You can find out more about the process here.

HMRC will aim to reply to your email within five working days to confirm you’ve been set up to access the EU Central Service and give you the link to access it.

Once you have the link, you’ll need to provide:

• Detailed information about your goods, which can vary depending on your goods
• Brochures, manuals, photographs and samples where appropriate. If you want this information to remain confidential, you must tell HMRC

You can also let HMRC know what you think the commodity code should be.

What happens after you’ve applied

HMRC aims to reply to your application within four months. You’ll be given a legal document informing you of the correct commodity code for your goods and the start date for the period of validity of the information. The document also shows:

• Unique reference number
• The name and address of the holder of the information, legally entitled to use it (decisions are non-transferable)
• Description of the goods (including any specific marks and numbers) to identify your goods at the frontier
• Basis of the legal justification for the decision

However, six countries – including Britain – have their own BTI ruling application sites that you can go through in addition to the EU central service.

• Croatia
• France
• Germany
• Poland
• Spain
• United Kingdom

Applying for a BTI if you’re in Northern Ireland

Binding Tariff Information decisions can be issued by HMRC to traders or individuals that have an EORI number that starts XI for goods you’re intending to import into or export from:

• Northern Ireland
• any EU member states, if you’re established in Northern Ireland

You can find more information about applying for a BTI decision if you’re based in or exporting to Northern Ireland here.

Why commodity codes are important

Finding the right commodity code is one of the first things you’ll need to do before you can import or export goods. It can be a little complex, but there is help at hand to make sure you get the right code for your business needs. With the resources outlined here, you should be able to find all you need to start getting your import/export business off the ground.

Further resources and guides

Import guide: three essential tips and everything you need to know – Guidance for navigating importing in a post-Brexit world.

Tariffs on goods imported into the UK – How to check the tariff rates that apply to goods you import.

The Border Target Operating Model and how it will affect your business – An explanation of the new rules and processes for food and plant imports that will come into force in 2024

5 things to remember when exporting for the first time – Exploring the key challenges for first-time exporters

The post The essential guide to commodity codes and HS categories appeared first on Small Business UK.

As anyone who frequents any website online will already know, chatbots are already being used by a host of brands to assist a customer with any queries they might have.

And chatbots have a lot going for them. They’re multilingual, can work around the clock 24/7 and can serve an infinite number of customers at once across multiple platforms. They’re also very good at automating routine tasks, such as booking in appointments and reservations.

If a customer has a query and it’s a frequently asked question (FAQ), the the bot will direct the browser to the answer already stated on the website, freeing time for customer service staff. The improved response time and efficiency can in turn also help improve customer satisfaction.

Even the government is getting in on the act, with Rishi Sunak planning on launching an AI chatbot to help the public pay taxes and access pensions on the Gov.uk website, using tech from ChatGPT’s OpenAI.

But it’s not all good news, of course. Before businesses rush to implement chatbots on their website, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is warning of an increased security risk to business operations. Early studies suggest chatbots are more prone to performing harmful tasks by hackers, such as making unauthorised transactions.

“Whilst it’s been beneficial for individuals and businesses – from the implementation of customer service chatbots to content creation – it also poses dangers, such as producing biased or false information,” Dr Marc Warner, CEO of AI consultancy firm Faculty, warns.

Warner says AI chatbots should be overseen by humans and should supplement human activity, not replace it, in order to limit its susceptibility to misinformation and abuse.

How AI is transforming chatbots

Software companies such as Amazon, OpenAI, Microsoft and Google may be launching AI chatbot platforms now, but live chat platforms such as Zendesk have been around since 2007.

However, whereas live chat platforms have previously gone so far as to greet an enquirer before relying on a customer service professional to deal with the task, now AI chatbots are able to see through a whole query in a human-like manner – and do this with multiple customers at the same time. They can also learn from their experiences, getting better at their replies and flagging customer pain points if an issue is being raised repeatedly.

Top chatbots for business

Ada

A (very) multilingual chatbot (Ada supports over 50 languages in all), Ada can provide customer support on channels such as Facebook and WhatsApp. You can build the bot, which is built on large language models (LLM) without any prior coding knowledge.

IBM Watson

As well as recommending additional topics to its knowledge base so it can improve future interactions, Watson from IBM alerts a business to where it needs more training on topics of its existing knowledge base.

Intercom Fin

Built on Chat GPT, Fin uses a business’s knowledge base to answer customer queries. When it doesn’t understand a request, it will ask questions back to the customer. If it’s still struggling, it will alert a member of staff to help. All its interactions are stored and can be viewed by a human at any time.

Salesforce Einstein

Salesforce Einstein can help with marketing, sales and customer service. In terms of the latter, the chatbot can help by surfacing relevant information during customer support interactions and automating summaries of resolutions.

Tidio Lyro

Lyro from Tidio is a customer-facing chatbot that can get to work conversing with customers straight away. It can answer FAQs competently in a human-like way, and if it can’t answer a query, it will direct to a customer service member of staff and flag this to your business as something to add to its knowledge base.

WP-Chatbot

WP-Chatbot allows businesses to have a live chat added to their WordPress website. As it’s a widget, it’s very easy to install and is compatible with all versions of WordPress and hundreds of its themes, plugins and e-commerce platforms. It provides constant support, even if there are no customer service staff available.

Zendesk Answer Bot

Zendesk has been in the live chat game since 2007 and Answer Bot is the latest of its AI offerings. With Zendesk’s advanced AI add-on, its bots will give suggestions, insights and uses deep learning to understand customer intent. For anything it has trouble with, it will direct to a live agent.

More on chatbots

How UK consumers feel about AI and chatbots in customer service – The UK is lagging behind other countries in making it easy for customers to interact with large organisations, says research from Avaya

Chatbots in the future of customer service – For human agents, working in tandem with generative AI chatbots empowers them with the right tools they need to deliver exceptional customer service, says Jordi Ferrer, vice-president and general manager at ServiceNow.

The post Benefits of chatbots for your business appeared first on Small Business UK.

In business, commissioning market research may seem intimidating or even unnecessary when you’re on a tight budget.

(SMEs) often think it is only for big business, but this is far from the truth. Customers can be difficult whether your company is big or small. They have their own vocabulary, their own ‘goods and services’ and can have very fixed perceptions.

In fact, with relatively low budgets and restricted resources, smaller companies may have more to gain from early and effective insight into their customers, and yes, it can be done a shoestring budget. It isn’t about cutting corners, it’s about thinking intelligently and flexibly from the outset.

According to figures from the Federation of Small Business, SMEs account for 99.9 per cent of UK businesses. With so much resting on these economic powerhouses, it is vital they understand how to benefit from customer insight. Done well, it can enable informed decisions which ultimately – through better customer understanding – leads to better design of ideas or communications and grow profit.

When conducting research, it’s always important to carefully consider what you want to learn about your customers and how best to do that. Choosing the right researcher, however small (and there are many one-person consultants) is crucial.

To get the best results, treat your researcher as a partner and invest time with them to ensure they understand you and your business. The more you put in, the more you’ll get out of the process.

Find a consultant or agency that is prepared to be honest with you and be ready to take their advice on board – the good news about what you’re doing as well as the less flattering feedback.

Below are a few extra pointers to get started.

Examine what you already have

Begin at the beginning by analysing the data you already have access to.

You might be surprised about what you already know about your customer base, or potential customer base. Businesses often forget that they are already sitting on customer data.

If you have it, you’ll need to establish how good it is. Check there isn’t bias in it by considering what sort of questions you asked (did they lead towards a specific answer?), how you did it (did the method favour a particular group over others?), and who you asked.

Organise data appropriately before considering adding any more to the mix. By analysing what you already have and thinking about how you can feasibly use it, you’ll be in a position to identify the gaps and give a much tighter brief to your research provider.

Remember to keep GDPR in mind when handling customer data.

Quality over quantity

Prioritising the quality and usefulness of each piece of research rather than simply collecting as much information as you can is sage advice, particularly for SMEs. A huge amount of data is one thing but it’s not much use until it is properly interpreted.

It’s not the information itself that will help you to achieve actionable insight, but the questions you ask of it.

Take advantage of free resources

There’s lots of data out there that you can access without incurring costs.

The Census contains a surprising amount and is an ideal place to start. Royal Mail’s excellent and accessible MarketReach database is useful if you’re thinking of using direct mail in your marketing.

Social media is clearly a great place to establish what matters to your target market, but it must be approached with caution and an awareness and understanding of your sample.

Those who are particularly expressive online represent a relatively small and unique group, so bear in mind that more private or reserved people could be overlooked. Not all age groups use all social media, and some don’t use any at all.  Make sure you’re not missing out on customers by relying too heavily on one data source.

Think flexibly

There are also ways you can adapt your own behaviour to gain insight into your target market. Don’t underestimate the power of qualitative insights (put crudely, talking and listening to smaller groups and individuals) alongside numerical data and trust the instinctive steer such observation gives you.

Something as simple as looking through your target audience’s preferred newspaper can help. This is part of a process to continue listening to your customer in their context. Staying curious about them isn’t just fun, it’ll keep you to stay ahead.

“Don’t underestimate the power of qualitative insights”

This flexible approach to what constitutes valid research is vital for businesses who may be struggling with smaller budgets. By thinking flexibly and realising that useful research is not beyond their reach financially, SMEs have everything to gain.

Jane Frost CBE, CEO of the Market Research Society (MRS)

Further Resources

How to use market research to make smart marketing decisions for your business – Mentor, speaker and author Katie Tucker on understanding your customer better and creating research-driven product awareness strategies.

8 Templates to Plan and Organize Your Market Research – These free templates from Milanote include a Brand Positioning Map, Customer Personas, SWOT analysis, and other classic market research projects.

20 Market Research Tools (With Importance and Types) – A comprehensive list covering data analysis, software, and competitive intelligence resources from Indeed.

Why market research is so important for a start-up business – Eric Brandenburg of market research company Marketest, looks at how unbiased research will uncover the merits of a new product to a market.

Smart marketing tips for start-ups – Advice on creating a consistent, varied and impactful marketing strategy.

And also, checkout this succinct explainer from OnStrategy on How to Conduct a Market Analysis in 4 Steps

The post How to do your market research on a shoestring budget appeared first on Small Business UK.

All new businesses have one thing in common – tight purse strings. The thought of coughing up for professionals to set up the various aspects of an online business, from SEO advisor and marketing expert to accountant and website-builder, causes understandable worry.

This need not be the case. The web is chock-a-block full of free platforms and networks that cost nothing to use or maintain and can give small businesses the edge, right from the start.

LinkedIn is key to new businesses for its networking possibilities; Mailchimp provides an email platform with excellent design and tracking capabilities; and WooRank tells you how your website is communicating with search engines so you can improve your SEO. These ‘freemium’ services, where the product or service is provided free of charge, but an affordable premium is charged for advanced features, are a gift to budding business owners who only 20 years ago would have paid thousands of pounds for these types of services.

The same applies to website building which is the first major undertaking for most new businesses.

Every savvy business person knows the value of a good website, but most new business owners perceive web design as complex, technical and time consuming and so will usually take the decision to outsource this task. But it’s not always necessary to throw thousands of pounds at a professional web designer. Freemium services, like Wix, enable businesses to create their professional and dream website on a shoestring.

Here’s how you can retain complete ownership of your company’s web building process so you end up with a beautiful website with a minimal amount of hassle, as well as saving yourself lots of money and time.

Planning your website

Firstly, it’s important to think about what your website represents – is your brand fun, colourful, minimalistic? Spend time understanding who your brand is, how it speaks and what experience you would like visitors to have when using your site – this will help you choose and build the perfect look and feel for your site.

Then look into the different freemium website building platforms out there, of which Wix is one. This means your website is free to build and can look beautiful with the help of ready-made templates, which can easily be customised by someone who doesn’t have any design or coding skills. Whether you’re a consultant or a hairdresser you can choose from the hundreds of HTML5 customisable designs. The benefit of freemium model platforms is that you only pay for what you need.

What’s more, you’re not restricted to basic website building. There’s also the option to integrate apps that will boost your business’ marketing and social functionalities. Adding music, videos, contact forms, traffic generating apps, blogs, live chat and other business building apps can take your website to the next level of customisation and professionalism.

Starting up your business does not have to be a daunting prospect. Utilise the free tools that the web has to offer and when it comes to creating your online presence this is no different. Reflect on who your brand is, what feeling you’d like it to convey, how your website should function and then research into a freemium web publishing platform and create your dream website within your budget.

More on website building 

How can I promote my small business website? – We answer 5 common questions on how to grow and market your small business website, from understanding SEO to advertising on social media

The post Advice for small businesses on building a website on a shoestring appeared first on Small Business UK.