Marketing Archives - Page 3 of 8

Why LinkedIn for Advertising?

Posted on 19 April 20233 June 2025 by Hannah Sanders

To me, LinkedIn is my ‘go-to’ for advertising. Many business owners are extremely successful in using LinkedIn ads to generate more leads and sales, and they do absolutely work if they are done right. Here’s how:

It’s unique

LinkedIn is different from other social networking sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, as it’s designed specifically with business networking in mind.

Options

As well as setting your objectives, whether it’s brand awareness, website, or a lead generation campaign, there are also different options for which format you want your campaign to run as. This is an ‘ad format’ which could be a single image ad, a carousel ad, an InMail, a conversational ad, a video ad and much more! I personally am a fan of single-image ads and carousel ads – anything ‘visual’ gets great results.

Targeting abilities

LinkedIn targeting capabilities are granular, allowing you to target specific industries, company sizes, job titles and more. This makes it easier for businesses to reach their ideal audience.

Trust

LinkedIn is a reliable and trustworthy platform that promotes user engagement with informative content. It stands out as a professional networking platform that prioritises business networking and professional content sharing, in contrast to other social networking platforms that emphasise personal connections, entertainment, and social content sharing.

Reporting at its finest

I recommend producing a weekly report for your campaign. This enables you to make edits to how your campaign is running. For example, you can pull a demographics report and see who is interacting with your ad (job titles/location/industry and so on), and if you’re not happy with who is engaging with your ad, you can easily make adjustments based on the data.

How to create engaging ad content that resonates with your target audience

Use visually appealing imagery that is relevant to your brand and message
Use concise, attention-grabbing headlines and copy that clearly communicate your value proposition
Use customer testimonials or case studies to provide social proof and demonstrate the benefits of your products or services
Use strong calls-to-action (CTAs) that encourage viewers to take action

For example, a B2B software company could create an ad campaign that features a customer testimonial video, highlighting how their software has helped streamline their business operations. The ad should feature a clear CTA, encouraging viewers to sign up for a free trial of the software.

How to leverage LinkedIn’s targeting capabilities

Use the targeting options to narrow down your audience based on criteria such as job title, company size, industry, and location
Use the “Matched Audiences” feature to retarget users who have engaged with your website or other LinkedIn content in the past
Use the “Lookalike Audiences” feature to reach users who are similar to your existing customers or leads

For example, a B2B marketing agency could create an ad campaign that targets marketing managers at mid-sized tech companies in the United Kingdom. They could also use the Matched Audiences feature to retarget users who have visited their website in the past, and the Lookalike Audiences feature to reach users who have similar job titles and company sizes to their existing customers.

How to ensure you are getting the most out of your ad spend

As mentioned above, it’s important to monitor and optimise your campaigns regularly. This involves analysing your ad metrics to identify areas for improvement, such as increasing click-through rates (CTR) or reducing cost-per-click (CPC). Some best practices for monitoring and optimising your campaigns include:

Setting up conversion tracking to measure the effectiveness of your ads in driving leads or sales
Running A/B tests to compare different ad creatives or targeting options
Adjusting your budgets to optimise your ad delivery and maximize your ROI

By regularly monitoring and optimising your campaigns, you can ensure that your ad spend is being used effectively and that you are reaching your target audience with engaging ad content.

In conclusion, while Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are popular social networking sites for advertising, LinkedIn stands out as a unique platform designed specifically for business networking. Its granular targeting abilities, diverse ad formats, and reliable user engagement make it a powerful tool for businesses in the B2B space. The ability to produce weekly reports and make adjustments to campaigns based on demographics ensures that businesses can continuously optimise their advertising efforts. However, it’s important to note that each platform has its own unique strengths and should be considered based on individual advertising objectives.

Opinion piece by Nicola Roberts – Senior Digital Marketing Executive at Air Marketing

How to Use First-Party Email Data to Improve Your Marketing Strategy

Posted on 20 March 202320 March 2023 by Hannah Sanders

As a marketer, you’re always on the lookout for new ways to connect with your target audience and drive results. One strategy that has proven to be highly effective is using first-party email data. In this article, we’ll explore what first-party email data is, why it’s valuable, and how you can use it to improve your marketing strategy.

What is First-Party Email Data?

First-party email data refers to the information that you collect from your own customers and prospects, such as their email addresses, names, and other demographic or behavioural data. This data is collected through a variety of channels, such as your website, social media, and online/in-store purchases.

Why is First-Party Email Data Valuable?

There are several reasons why first-party email data is valuable for marketers:

Targeted Messaging: First-party email data allows you to create highly targeted and personalised messaging for your audience. By knowing more about their demographics, behaviours, and preferences, you can tailor your messages to their specific needs and interests.

Improved ROI: Because you’re targeting a highly specific audience with your messages, you’re likely to see improved ROI on your marketing efforts. You’ll be reaching people who are more likely to be interested in your products or services, which can lead to higher conversion rates.

Deeper Insights: First-party email data provides deeper insights into your audience and their behaviours. By analysing this data, you can identify trends, preferences, and areas of opportunity for your business.

How to Use First-Party Email Data in Your Marketing Strategy

Now that you understand the value of first-party email data, let’s explore how you can use it to improve your marketing strategy:

Segment Your Audience: Use your first-party email data to segment your audience into specific groups based on demographics, behaviours, and interests. This will allow you to create targeted messaging that resonates with each group.

Personalise Your Messages: Use the data you’ve collected to personalise your email messages for each recipient. Address them by name, use their past purchase history to recommend similar products, and offer promotions that are tailored to their interests.

Optimise Your Timing: Use your first-party email data to identify the best times to send your messages. Analyse the data to see when your audience is most likely to open and engage with your emails, and adjust your send times accordingly.

Test and Refine: Continuously test and refine your messaging and tactics based on the data you collect. Experiment with different subject lines, calls-to-action, and messaging to see what resonates best with your audience.

Conclusion

Using first-party email data is a highly effective way to improve your marketing strategy. By collecting and analysing data about your own customers and prospects, you can create highly targeted and personalised messaging that resonates with your audience. Use the tips outlined in this article to optimise your strategy and see improved results from your email marketing efforts.

Opinion piece by James Ollerhead, Senior Marketing Executive at Air Marketing

How B2B Businesses Are Using TikTok

Posted on 12 February 20237 July 2023 by Hannah Sanders

B2B (business-to-business) companies have traditionally shied away from consumer-focused social media platforms like TikTok. But in recent times, B2B companies have started to realise the potential of this app as a marketing tool to reach a wider audience and connect with their target customers. With eight new users joining the platform every second, it will come as no surprise that there are predicted to be 8 million TikTok users in the UK by 2024.

Here are some ways B2B companies are using TikTok for their marketing efforts:

Product Demonstrations and Tutorials:

TikTok’s short-form video format is ideal for showcasing products and services in an engaging and fun way. B2B companies can use this platform to give product demonstrations, tutorials, and how-to videos, which can help educate and inform potential customers.

Employee Engagement and Brand Promotion:

TikTok allows B2B companies to humanise their brand by showcasing their employees and their work culture. This helps to create a positive image of the company and fosters a strong connection with potential customers.

Customer Testimonials:

TikTok is a great platform for B2B companies to showcase customer testimonials and success stories. By showing the impact their products or services have had on real customers, B2B companies can build trust with potential customers.

Influencer Marketing:

TikTok has a large community of influencers who have built a following and can be leveraged by B2B companies to promote their products or services. By collaborating with the right influencer, B2B companies can reach a wider audience and increase brand awareness.

Still need some convincing? Don’t just take our word for it – B2B brands such as Adobe, Sage, Shopify, and Square have used TikTok effectively for their marketing…

Adobe Creative Software has leveraged TikTok for its marketing efforts introducing #LevelUpWithAdobe – a series of workshops and resources aimed at assisting TikTok creators improve their video editing and production abilities.

Sage Accounting Software made a big impact on TikTok with its #BOSSIT2021 campaign. The company celebrated small businesses in the UK by inviting them to share their experiences overcoming obstacles during a difficult year. With over 1 million entries, the challenge was a huge success and helped Sage connect with many businesses.

Shopify leverages TikTok to share tips on productivity, business, and of course, ways to use their eCommerce platform. With over 100,000 followers on the platform, Shopify continues to create value for its users and attract new ones.

Square, a leading player in fintech, has partnered with TikTok to allow merchants to create online stores on the social media platform. ‘Square x TikTok’ links TikTok video and ad viewers to products sold on merchants’ Square Online stores, offering a seamless shopping experience while preserving the merchants’ unique brand identity.

Overall, TikTok is a versatile platform that B2B companies can use for their marketing efforts. By leveraging the app’s unique features, B2B companies can reach a wider audience, promote their brand, and connect with potential customers in a fun and engaging way. Is TikTok on your 2023 B2B marketing plan?

Opinion piece by Content Manager, Tamara Rowley

How to Be Brave and Sell More with Your Sales and Marketing

Posted on 9 February 20233 June 2025 by Hannah Sanders

We’re living in an exciting age of advertising, so there’s no doubt that you’ve recently come across a piece of highly creative and snappy marketing and thought ‘I wish my company could do something like that’. The good news is, that no matter what industry you operate in, you can! Thinking outside of the box and being brave with your sales and marketing has many benefits that can drive revenue growth.

Let’s delve into some of them:

Standing Out From the Crowd

CPB London’s 2022 International Women’s Day Campaign around breaking the gender bias was built around a nationwide study that said 39% of primary school aged children still believe that mothers should look after babies and do the housework, whilst fathers should go to work.

They produced a series of bold text-only posters that challenge instant biases with copy such as ‘Imagine a CEO. Is it a man?’ and ‘Imagine someone crying in the office. Is it a woman?’ They also launched a children’s colouring book alongside this that went further in challenging traditional gender roles.

Image credit: cpblondon.com

This campaign made them stand out from their competition and differentiate their brand as a disruptor within the industry. It also introduced them to a wider audience, including people who would not have been aware of their brand otherwise.

Increasing Brand Awareness

What feelings do you want to evoke when people think of your business? Boring, dated, ‘had its day’? Didn’t think so.

Your brand identity is the key to resonating with your target audience and driving more sales.

Take the latest British Airways campaign, for example. They’ve put a series of billboards up around the UK encouraging people to take their holiday seriously with a series of tongue in cheek out of office emails such as this one:

Image credit: famouscampaigns.com

They are implicitly driving sales by subverting expectations and relating to their audience’s desire to book holidays in order to switch off from their everyday working lives.

How relatable are your current marketing and sales materials? How could you appeal to your target audience more closely in your next campaign?

Building Trust with Your Potential Customers

By being bold and assertive with how you sell your products or services, you display a confidence in them that attracts interest and can lead to sales. Take this recent #RaiseYourArches advert from McDonalds. It doesn’t feature a single product or restaurant shot. It doesn’t even feature speech. It uses clever body language and their iconic golden-arch branding to show how people may communicate that they want a McDonalds.

Image credit: McDonald’s

McDonalds know that they don’t always have to use product imagery in order to sell burgers – they can instead focus on the feelings their food and the experience of eating it offers.

Consider how you could demonstrate confidence in your products or services within your marketing or sales collateral.

Increasing Sales Through Scarcity

KFC’s double down burger is one of its most popular menu items. But it’s not available all year round. The fast-food chain only makes it available for limited 5 week periods and when it’s on sale, it accounts for roughly 5% of its total revenue. The fact that it’s never clear when the burger might be returning to the menu, drives sales from satisfied customers who have previously enjoyed it. The product has a loyal customer base which means KFC can expect increased revenue over time, so long as they keep selling it.

Image credit: KFC UK & Ireland Instagram

How could you replicate this sense of urgency to motivate your ideal customers into action? Could you create exclusivity around a product or offer a lucrative limited time deal? The bolder, the better!

Leading Not Following

The release of the John Lewis Christmas advert is a highly anticipated event in the festive calendar. Viewers have come to expect a highly emotive and heart-warming tale that evokes the yule-tide spirit of giving. Hailing back two decades, this format has now set a trend with lots of other retailers now following suit with story-telling adverts in a similar format. This powerful story-telling format increases brand awareness and can be effective in driving sales, especially around the all-important festive period.

How could your business lead rather than follow with your sales and marketing processes? Could you offer added value that your customer base wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else? How could you inject freshness into your industry?

Being brave with sales and marketing isn’t something that’s exclusively reserved for the titans of their industry. In being bold and making your offering stand out from that of your competitors, you’ll force your audience to sit up and listen to what you have to say.

In thinking outside of the box with how you market and sell to your audience,, you will undoubtedly achieve a wider reach, build trust, and ultimately generate more opportunities for revenue growth. So be brave with your ideas, make the sky your limit and then go a bit further. In today’s oversaturated digital world, who dares wins!

Is your business ready to be brave and sell more, but in need of some guidance on how to execute this strategy? We’re here to help. Get in touch today to find out how we could guide you through the process and help you to generate more revenue opportunities.

New Year, New Marketing Strategy

Posted on 10 January 202310 January 2023 by Hannah Sanders

The New Year. A time for resolutions, diets, gym memberships and planning what you want to achieve / see / do in the year ahead. For many UK businesses, it’s the start of Q4 – the final quarter of the financial year. Q4 is a deciding quarter – if you’re ahead, you need to keep momentum and stay head. If you’re behind, then this is your last chance to catch up and finish the financial year well.

From a marketing perspective, there will be two trains of thought coming into the New Year. What tactics need optimising, tweaking or revisiting this year to work harder. And it’s time to start strategising your next 12 month marketing plan for the next financial year.

For us, our marketing plan is so closely linked to our sales objectives that it makes sense to conduct the planning concurrently with the finalisation of our financial budgets. This also gives us roughly a 3 month window to analyse the data from the previous year’s activities, spend time meeting with key stakeholders to understand their focus for the year and come up with lots of new, exciting ideas to bring to the plan.

Your marketing plan should outline 3 key things: your goals, your budget and your tactics.

Start by understanding your goals. What do you want to achieve in the next year? For example, do you want to grow your business – and if so by how much? Are you looking to reach a new audience or a higher proportion of your current audience? Do you need to drive more traffic to your website or convert more of the existing traffic on your website?

Once you know your goals, you can start to put together your budget. How much are you willing to spend on marketing? This will help you determine what tactics you can afford to use.

And then crucially, you’ll need to choose your tactics. Your tactics will be dictated by several elements including your budget, your target market, and your goals. For example, if you’re looking for quick conversions for top of funnel leads, with clear cost per lead associated, you’re unlikely to tactically deploy a long-term for this goal. However, if one of your goals is to eventually be able to generate leads without spending money, consider implementing an SEO strategy in conjunction with your current tactics to quickly convert leads – so you are aligning to both goals.

The important thing? Step outside the everyday – dive into the data but don’t forget to get creative. And there are plenty of agencies, like us, here to help if you need it!

Opinion piece by Verity Studley-Wootton – Head of Marketing Services at Air Marketing

Day 12 of Air Marketing’s 12 Days of Christmas: Air 2022 Rewind

Posted on 21 December 20223 June 2025 by Hannah Sanders

It’s been a year like no other, and as we turn the page on 2022, we’re taking a moment to relive the most memorable moments that have shaped our business culturally in the past year.

Watch the video montage:

And that concludes Air Marketing’s 12 Days of Christmas campaign. We hope you found our content useful and enjoyable, and and we look forward to continuing to connect with you and support your business needs in the new year.

On behalf of everyone at Air Marketing, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Follow us on socials for more valuable sales and marketing content:

Day 11 of Air Marketing’s 12 Days of Christmas: Merry Spot the Difference

Posted on 20 December 20223 June 2025 by James Ollerhead

Merry Spot the Difference

Get into the holiday spirit with our festive spot the difference game! Can you spot all seven differences between the two Christmas scenes?

Test your eye for detail and have some fun while you’re at it. From decorations on the tree to presents under the mistletoe, see if you can find all the hidden differences in these jolly holiday scenes.

Click the button below to send your answers to us via email.

DAY 12 OF AIR MARKETING’S 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

What’s behind the final door?

Day 10 of Air Marketing’s 12 Days of Christmas: Can You Identify the 10 Iconic Brands Nestled In and Around the Tree?

Posted on 19 December 20223 June 2025 by James Ollerhead

Can you identify the 10 iconic brands nestled in/around the tree, and around the fireplace?

Welcome to our holiday game of brand guessing! We’ve hidden 10 famous brands in and underneath the tree, and around the fireplace… and it’s up to you to discover which ones they are!

Are you ready to put your brand knowledge to the test? Let’s get started.

Click the button below to send your answers to us via email.

DAY 11 OF AIR MARKETING’S 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

What’s behind door number 11?

Day 9 of Air Marketing’s 12 Days of Christmas: Maximising the Success of your Email Campaigns

Posted on 16 December 20223 June 2025 by James Ollerhead

Your email campaigns success is much more than catchy subject lines, SEO optmised copy and strong and clear CTA’s.

Before you get started in designing your next killer email, you need to consider the details when setting up your email marketing campaign.

We have compiled a list of the key things to consider when setting up an email marketing campaign, and how to optimise each part.

This guide will provide tips on the following areas:

1. From Name
2. From Email Address
3. Subject Line & Preview
4. Internal Email Names
5. Account Address
6. Send To & Not Send To
7. Optimised Send Time
8. UTM & Tracking

Content by James Ollerhead, Senior Marketing Elf at Air Marketing.

DAY 10 OF AIR MARKETING’S 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

What’s behind door number 10?

Day 8 of Air Marketing’s 12 Days of Christmas: Unlock The Power of Account Based Marketing (ABM)

Posted on 15 December 20223 June 2025 by James Ollerhead

Awareness around Account Based Marketing (ABM) has boomed in recent years, but it’s been around since the early 2000s.

For results–driven marketers, ABM is a dream opportunity to drive enviable ROI, with research showing it easily outstrips other approaches: 97% of marketers surveyed agreed ABM had higher ROI than other marketing activities.

That’s great, but what is it?

Account Based Marketing is a strategic marketing approach where sales and marketing work closely together to target potential high growth and key accounts, either customer or prospect, with tailored messaging focused on their specific challenges. ABM campaigns include targeting individual decision makers within the selected accounts with messaging relevant to their operational challenges.

With demand generation, the focus is on creating awareness to a larger market and then moving those interested parties through a marketing funnel until they’re ready to make a decision. Whereas ABM efforts focus on a smaller number of key target accounts and operate on the basis of winning high value opportunities, making the initial intensive efforts and investment worthwhile.

There are many clear benefits to developing an ABM programme, including:

Gives you more focus

Rather than a broad-brush approach, ABM encourages you to focus on those who really need and want your product or service. By tailoring the message directly to key decision makers, you’re effectively bypassing the usual awareness building approach and the reward is far greater.

A higher hit-rate

This is a real opportunity to use highly personalised creative and messaging that cuts through the noise and directly responds to a specific company or department challenge, rather than a broader industry one. This direct response is engaging and rapidly builds trust and rapport, opening the door for a meaningful conversation, and as we’ve already mentioned yields far stronger ROI.

True collaboration between sales and marketing

ABM requires sales and marketing to work together as a team, using all resources in a focused and efficient way. This means sales teams feel far more supported in their efforts and marketers feel much more engaged with the sales follow–up process.

Getting started with ABM

Now we’re not saying chuck out the marketing mix and put all your eggs in the ABM basket. For some business models, it’s not the right approach (we’ll touch on this later). But if you’d like to give it a try there are some straightforward ways to get started.

It’s vital that you set out what you hope to achieve from ABM at the outset of your campaign. Your goals may grow and change over time, but you do need to be clear on what would be a successful result. Remember to be realistic with your goals too, ABM is often a long-term strategy, so don’t expect to see results immediately.

Do you have the team to execute in-house? It’s vital that you commit the time and the resources to an ABM campaign, if you can’t afford to do this in-house, would you consider outsourcing?

Run a workshop between marketing and sales where you work out which clients or prospects would be prime for an ABM approach. Decide here if you wish to spread the risk and opt for a one-to-many approach, rather than a one-to-one.

Now you need to choose your delivery model and start shaping your campaign. Measurement is vital so make sure you have the tools to track your efforts in place. If you’re using a marketing automation tool, ensure your contact data is up to snuff and you’ve mapped your accounts properly. Getting your house in order is crucial before embarking on a detailed and coordinated campaign.

When ABM might not be right

While ABM is a tried and tested marketing approach, there are circumstances when it might not be right for you:

You don’t have a clearly defined audience and cannot easily isolate high–value potential customers – without this knowledge, it’s difficult to get your ABM programme off the ground.
You don’t have the insight to map accounts and create tailored messaging – which is essential for ABM success.
Your sales are largely online rather than led by the sales team – so the sales enablement aspects of your campaign and tailored messaging wouldn’t add value.

Your deal sizes are smaller, and you’d rather sell volume – ABM works on the idea of going deep with select accounts, if your business model is lower transactional value, high volume sales, there are better ways to market your offer (we can help you with those methods too).

Using ABM to break into new markets

We are currently working with a French technology company seeking to break into the UK, Nordic and Canadian markets. Our client can define their target market as large businesses processing big data, so it makes sense to target the C-Suite of large household brands. To capture the attention of their desired decision maker, they need to stand out, differentiate themselves effectively and offer maximum value. Their product and their buyer are perfect for an ABM campaign.

We are validating our client’s target market data, undertaking additional research to build insights that will enhance their campaign and capture and nurture their target decision–makers.

Does Account Based Marketing sound like a strategy that could be relevant for your business? If you’d like to find out more about how ABM could work for you, we’d love to help you get started. Get in touch today.

DAY 9 OF AIR MARKETING’S 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS

What’s behind door number 9?