Punjab's farmers have suffered from generational trauma rooted in government-sanctioned displacement and exploitation. Despite this, Punjab is often called the 'Breadbasket' of India due to its fertile land. A little background What is now considered the state of 'Punjab' is just a fraction of what used to be the land of five rivers and lush green fields. In the 1940's as the British empire left India, they dismantled the region of Punjab with the support of prominent Indian politicians, including Mahatma Gandhi, who supported the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people. Families with rich generational wealth were uprooted from their homes and lost loved ones due to violence caused by the displacement. In 2019, a reported 10,281 farmers died by suicide in Indian, a majority of whom reside in Punjab. As with anything related to human rights in India, the exact number of suicides that occur in Punjab is likely understated. Punjab's farming has historically been a thriving industry. The tide began to change with the introduction of India's Green Revolution in the 1960's. With the support of US scientists, companies like Monsanto filled Punjab's farms with harmful chemicals, depleting natural occurring nutrients from the soil, and making farmers dependent on pesticides year after year. The green revolution has resulted in disproportionately high cancer rates across Punjab, birth defects, unemployment, cripplingly high debts, and unimaginably high rates of drugs and alcohol addiction. Small farmers are the most vulnerable and most affected. What's happening? Recent laws take away any guarantee of minimum support prices (MSPs) and allow for corporation to monopolize Punjab's farming economy, driving crop prices so low that small farmers will be unable to survive. Crippled with insurmountable debt from unpredictable harvests and a forced dependence on expensive pesticides, suicide by farmers are at an all time high. Farmers are marching to Delhi in peaceful protest of the new laws. They are being met with blockades, tear gas, and water cannons along the way. The government are ripping apart highways and digging massive trenches to stop their march. We are watching them walk through water cannons, getting hit with tear gas, on their hands and knees pushing gravel and dirt back into streets that have been torn apart by their oppressors. We are witnessing a revolution . Speak up , demand fair reporting , and support small farmers . HOW TO HELP Outside of spreading the word and sharing on your social medias, here are a few other ways you can help. Petitions https://www.change.org/p/justin-trudeau-justice-for-farmers-of-india https://www.change.org/p/united-nations-we-want-uk-government-and-all-un-bodies-to-see-what-s-happening-in-india-with-punjab Donations Khalsa Aid - Provide food to the farmers who were at the protests in Punjab. Donate here: https://www.khalsaaid.org/donate.html United Sikhs - Provide financial assistance for diesel for tractors. Provide Mattresses and bedding for overnight use. Donate here: https://unitedsikhs.org/donate/ Save Indian farmers org - Donate to a family to tackle the high suicide rates of farmers. Donate here: https://www.saveindianfarmers.org/ Swavalamban Initiative - Improve the livelihoods of farmers and their families. Donate here: https://dehatindia.org/cause/swavalamban-initiative/

Earlier this month, the hit YouTube show ‘Does the Shoe fit’ returned for its 4th season. This time, Chunkz and Filly were joined by MOBO and BET award winning artist Konan (one half of Krept and Konan) as well as fellow social media personality Harry Pinero. The show consists of aforementioned stars going on speed dates with pre-selected girls. At the end of all the dates, the girls decide which was their favourite date. The show garners around 2 to 4 million views per episode, which makes it the most popular series on the Footasylum page by a country mile. Chunkz and Filly are the main hosts of the show and have previously been joined by Youtube superstar KSI as well as Love island contestants Jack Fowler and Jordan Hames (Who Jordan again?). Whilst for most ‘Does the shoe fit’ (We’ll call it DTSF from now on) is a great way to pass the time whilst eating your lunch, for me it stands out as an amazing example of content marketing. If you’re wondering what content marketing is, here’s a definition for the Content marketing institute, “Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action." The reason DTSF is a great example of content marketing is because it ticks all the keys from the above definition. The value of the show is reflected in its strong viewership numbers and the way it drives people to the Footasylum YouTube channel. It’s highly relevant as it’s playing on the popularity of dating tv shows such as First Dates. Footasylum haven’t gone out to hire A-list celebs, instead they reached out to up and coming youngsters with big followings. They have a great understanding of the platform and they’re also relatable for the audience. The show is also consistent, already on its 4th season, there has been minimal changes to the concept itself apart from the location. Just take a look at the comment section of any other Footasylum video to see how much the audience wants more DTSF. Let's look into the show from a content marketing perspective. First of all, the lack of overt advertising within the videos help their cause. Footaslyum is a footwear brand, but there are no mentions of shoes in the whole show, not even a look at their contestants' sneakers. The only mention of the brand itself is in the title of the show. You won’t find any cutaways or product placement on the show. Footaslylum have understood that their target audience hates being sold to, so they kept it organic all the way through. Whilst some marketers might see this as a missed opportunity, for me it shows a commitment to delivering great entertainment and nothing else. The absence of sales tactics resonates with the audience and keeps them engaged. The marketing aspect aside, 'Does the shoe fit?' as a piece of entertainment succeeds on a number of levels. It boils down to the natural chemistry of Chunkz and Filly, two figures who have come to be considered national treasures by many across the nation. Despite their popularity, some would say they're still up and coming since they’re somewhat less established than some of the more popular online creators. This makes them more exciting, and better-suited talent for appealing to Footasylum’s trendy 16-24 year old customer base. Chunkz and Filly also succeed from a relatability standpoint. Whilst they have both found huge amounts of success in recent years and possess a great deal of charisma, they’re both incredibly humble figures which makes watching them navigate the pitfalls of dating all the more entertaining. But most importantly, Footasylum leaves the talent to do their jobs without meddling, handing them scripts, or giving them products to flog. The result is a product that is incredibly authentic and a breath of fresh air from the content we’ve come to associate with branded work. It’s very clear to see the authenticity that the duo carry themselves with relates with audiences on a different level. Speaking in slang, speaking on subjects that the culture is discussing or going viral, speaking in a tone of voice that we respect truly does build deep and meaningful connections with audiences. Footasylum get right what so many brands do not. Instead of getting worked up over profanity and crude humour being associated with their brand, they embrace it, because they understand that it’s exactly what their target audience expects from these entertainers. It’s clear the hosts and their guests are holding nothing back, and the strong uninterrupted flow of banter that is present in each episode gives birth to iconic meme-worthy moments that are shared far and wide across all social media platforms. That’s why they are delivering such high engagement and impact; it’s the tone of voice, the authenticity that comes with people being themselves, filming their personalities and interests. They become our friends and people we grow to care about. Ultimately, DTSF has done an incredible job in carving out a unique space for itself online and building a dedicated audience. A quick look at Footasylum’s page on Social Blade will tell you all you need to know about the insane numbers it racks up. This series, as well as the others on the Footasylum YouTube channel, are about more than selling trainers; they’re about targeting the brand’s 16-24 customer base and creating a connection that goes beyond footwear.

Make customers feel safe Show them it's safe to go out by taking the virus and their health seriously. This means implementing extra safety rules, providing hand sanitizers etc. Help customers relax by worrying about their health for them, so that they don't need to. Check in on your employees Your employees are just as important as your customers. Communicate with them. Ask how they are and let them know what you're expecting from them. It's been a difficult time for everyone - ease your employees back into work and ensure stability by communicating well. So customers and employees now feel comfortable again and everything can go back to normal... But how do you get back to growing your business? 1. Seize the moment Now is not the time to test the water and slowly ease into a post-covid world. People are itching to go out and get back into their normal routines. Make sue you let them know they can do so with you. This means promoting your business and running special offers and setting up special events. 2. Learn from it Lockdowns and quarantines have lead companies everywhere to adapt and innovate. Don't let these experiences go to waste. If you're a restaurant that has had success with take out and deliveries, don't sotp doing it simply because you didn't do it before. It's just another stream of revenue. 3. Look forward This is not the last time societal changes will impact your ability to do business. Assess and shore up any vulnerabilities you might have. If you're heaving reliant on physical vendors, make sure you can an E-commerce alternative. Corona didn't change our course, it merely forced us to speed up. Change has been underway for a long time. People have been clamoring to work from home for years, digital marketing has steadily gained ground and popularity, as has takeaways and e-commerce. Don't wait for the next crisis to adapt your business and start driving change. If you'd like help with your digital marketing, let's jump on a call and see how we can help, we'd love to talk!

To collect new subscribers, you need a signup form. With email software, you can create a signup form in just minutes. Ask for as little information as possible (stick to an email address and optionally a name), this will higher the chances of people filling out your form. You want to integrate the signup form on diverse spots on your website. The footer and contact page are great to start with, but also a pop-up form can boost subscriptions. Do follow-up with a confirmation email that tells your new subscribers that they subscribed to an email list. If you have specific landing pages (for example for various locations), you can use different signup forms that are each attached to a specific mailing list. These groups can be used to send location-specific email campaigns. Whether online or offline, make sure to give visitors a reason to sign up for your email list. Examples of incentives for new subscribers: - Early check-in (for hotels) - Discount on their first visit - Chance to win a voucher - Exclusive deals and promotions - Members-only information - Invitations to events hosted in your business location - Hotel upgrades The hospitality industry has been hit hard by Coronavirus, but by adapting and introducing new digital marketing strategies, your brand can continue to attract and connect with customers. If you’d like some help with digital marketing, get in touch , we’d love to talk!

You can segment people by whether they are leisure or business travelers, the type of room they booked, how many people in total checked-in or the total amount of money spent during their last visit. By integrating existing customer data into your emails, you make each message more valuable and increase the likelihood of a customer taking action. Let’s say someone visited you last summer. In late spring, you can send a summer-themed email, to inform them about various offers during the season or your new additions for the summer season. To reward recurring visitors you can also offer a discount on their stay. The hospitality industry has been hit hard by Coronavirus, but by adapting and introducing new digital marketing strategies, your business can continue to attract and connect with customers. If you’d like some help with digital marketing, get in touch , we’d love to talk! 

Email marketing is a strong tool that every business should be investing time into. A mailing list is how you build your own audience through data capture. You will probably capture email when your customers are booking or registering, this means that they have a clear interest in your product. The truth is that people consume emails differently than other forms of media, and that is a major advantage for businesses. Here's 4 reasons that might convince you that your brand needs a mailing list. 1. Everyone has an email In recent research conducted by Radicati, it was shown that there are 3.8 billion active email accounts. That pretty much half of the people on Earth. In case you aren't convinced yet, studies also show that at least 91% of consumes check their emails on a daily basis! 2. You OWN it When you think about it, you own your own mailing list, as opposed to other platforms such as Facebook and Instagram where you don't have control over changed policies or annoying updates. With mailing lists, you preserve ownership over your connection with customers. So make the best out of it and own it like a boss! 3. It is for YOUR audience. It's safe to say that if someone goes out of their way to sign up to your mailing list, they are interested in your business. So it's a great place for you to send offers and news that are uniquely for your audience while promoting your products and services. 4. Spread awareness This is a perfect place to educate and display your knowledge, expertise and opinions in your industry to consumers. Spread awareness and build authority. Bonus tips for growing - Encourage subscribers to forward/share your email - Host a virtual event - Add a link to your email signature - Create a lead magnet - Share our sign up link If this has helped you, share it with someone else who can benefit. Whilst you're here, you can sign up to our newsletter where you'll get more in depth tips and tricks to help you.

Twitter finally releases ‘Fleets’ it’s version of stories. Fleets are located at the top of the user’s timeline and automatically disappears after 24 hours (never seen that before 🤔). Using this new tool, users will have the ability to share other people’s texts, images, videos and tweets. The implementation of stickers, live streams and more is expected. What do you think about Twitter joining in on the ‘stories’ bandwagon? Will you be using it or not?

Why We Wrote this Guide? Online marketing moves at the speed of light. To keep up, you need a strong foundation with the judgment to think critically, act independently, and be relentlessly creative. That’s why we wrote this guide — to empower you with the mental building blocks to stay ahead in an aggressive industry. There are plenty of guides to marketing. From textbooks to online video tutorials, you can really take your pick. But, we felt that there was something missing — a guide that really starts at the beginning to equip already-intelligent professionals with a healthy balance of strategic and tactical advice. The Beginner’s Guide to Online Marketing closes that gap. Who This Guide Is for? We wrote this guide for an audience of first-time marketers, experienced entrepreneurs and small business owners, entry to mid-level candidates, and marketing managers in need of resources to train their direct reports. Most of all, we want you to walk away from this guide feeling confident about your marketing strategy. How Much of this Guide Should You Read? This guide is designed for you to read cover-to-cover. Each new guide builds upon the previous one. A core idea that we want to reinforce is that marketing should be evaluated holistically. What you need to do is this in terms of growth frameworks and systems as opposed to campaigns. Reading this guide from start to finish will help you connect the many moving parts of marketing to your big-picture goal, which is ROI. 1. Be Laser Focused on Your Customers Your customers, prospects, and partners are the lifeblood of your business. You need to build your marketing strategy around them. Step 1 of marketing is understanding what your customers want, which can be challenging when you’re dealing with such a diverse audience. This guide will walk you through (1) the process of building personal connections at scale and (2) crafting customer value propositions that funnel back to ROI for your company. 2. Build Your Marketing Framework Mediocre marketers think in terms of campaigns. Great marketers think in terms of growth frameworks. Learn how to position your marketing strategy into a sustainable, ROI-positive revenue engine for your brand. Gone are the days of shallow branding. Leverage metrics to build a solid revenue stream. 3. Develop Your Brand’s Story When people spend money, they’re thinking with both their rational and emotional brains. The most effective marketing frameworks appeal to both. Storytelling is one of the most powerful tools that your company can wield to build customer connections. This guide will walk you through the mechanics of cultivating your company’s story. 4. Get ‘Em to Your Site: Foundations of Traffic Acquisition You can have the most amazing web storefront, blog, or product in the world, but if you’re not getting traffic, your business’s growth strategy will fall flat. This post will walk you through some of the most common free and paid traffic acquisition frameworks for bringing visitors to your website. 5. Get the Plumbing Right: Foundations of Conversion Optimization Traffic acquisition is only half the marketing equation. You need to invest the time in building a strategy for driving sales. Conversion optimization is the practice of (1) converting first-time visitors into customers and (2) converting first-time customers into repeat buyers. 6. Build Audience Connections with Content Marketing Content marketing is more than just blogging. When executed correctly, content including articles, guides (like this one), webinars, and videos can be powerful growth drivers for your business. Focus on building trust and producing amazing quality. And most of all, make sure that you’re capturing the right metrics. Create content to generate ROI. Measure the right results. 7. Find Customers with Paid Channel Advertising Paid channel marketing is something you’ve probably come across in some form or another. Other names for this topic include Search Engine Marketing (SEM), online advertising, or pay-per-click (PPC) marketing. Very often, marketers use these terms interchangeably to describe the same concept — traffic purchased through online ads. Marketers frequently shy away from this technique because it costs money. This perspective will put you at a significant disadvantage. It’s not uncommon for companies to run PPC campaigns with uncapped budgets. Why? Because you should be generating an ROI anyway. Get Started 8. Amplify 1:1 Connections with Email Marketing Email marketing has a bad rap. Why? Because in the majority of cases, it’s spammy. When executed correctly, email marketing can be incredibly powerful. The trick is to prioritize the human-to-human connection above the sale. Balance automation with a personal touch. 9. Drive Incremental Sales Through Affiliate Marketing It’s hard to believe that the Internet is now multiple decades old. Affiliate marketing has been around since the earliest days of online marketing. It’s a great solution for businesses that are risk-averse or don’t have the budget to spend on upfront marketing costs. Use affiliate marketing to build a new revenue stream for your ecommerce or B2B business. 10. Get Found with SEO Search engines are a powerful channel for connecting with new audiences. Companies like Google and Bing look to connect their customers with the best user experience possible. Step one of a strong SEO strategy is to make sure that your website content and products are the best that they can be. Step 2 is to communicate that user experience information to search engines so that you rank in the right place. SEO is competitive and has a reputation of being a black art. 11. Get the Word Out with PR You’ve launched an amazing product or service. Now what? Now, you need to get the word out. When done well, good PR can be much more effective and less expensive than advertising. Regardless of whether you want to hire a fancy agency or awesome consultant, make sure that you know what you’re doing and what types of ROI to expect. Relationships are the heart and soul of PR. This guide will teach you how to ignore the noise and focus on substantive, measurable results. 12. Launch Your Social Strategy Your social media strategy is more than just a Facebook profile or Twitter feed. When executed correctly, social media is a powerful customer engagement engine and web traffic driver. It’s easy to get sucked into the hype and create profiles on every single social site. This is the wrong approach. What you should do instead is to focus on a few key channels where your brand is most likely to reach key customers and prospects. This post will teach you how to make that judgment call. 13. A Quick Note on Mobile Most businesses aren’t optimized for the mobile web, and that’s a problem. We operate in a cross-platform world. Smartphones and tablets are taking over. If you’re not optimizing your site for mobile visitors, you are likely losing money. Learn how to craft a data-driven mobile approach.

Marketing Departments and Marketing Agencies always seem to be the first to get cut from budgets when times are tough. As marketing generates sale opportunities, this would seem counterproductive, especially when sales are in short supply. When businesses face difficult times, increased marketing activity is often the best strategy and we will explain why and provide logical answers to questions surrounding marketing spend. I’m not seeing an effective return on the investment Granted, in some cases you may not be, but this will not be because “marketing doesn’t work” but rather because of one of the following reasons; 1) Your marketing team are not “targeted” enough to produce the results required. 2) Are you aware of what an effective ROI actually looks like. 3) Have you allowed a realistic amount of time to enable marketing strategies to succeed. In this digital age, marketing is more than just advertising. A thorough knowledge of digital strategies and platforms must be married with well thought out strategies. If the person responsible for putting together your marketing strategy is not an expert in the field, then marketing spend will be ineffective. A well thought out strategy will go hand in hand with analysis to ensure that the marketing plan is producing results. These results should be a blend of performance and finance targets that can be tracked and attributed to the campaign being implemented. It’s not uncommon for 70% of marketing tactics to fail but it’s absolutely essential to identify this in order to limit the spend on less effective areas whilst concentrating on the other 30% which will pay real dividends. Digital marketing takes time to evolve. Campaigns build and gather traction as audiences increase and interest is stimulated. Set goals and targets that take this into account. Be patient and realistic enough to allow your plans to come to fruition. A good agency will adapt and refine their approach but, like most business strategies, the most effective results are attained gradually and are a result of a consistent approach. Marketing is too expensive and we just don’t have the money for it now Marketing shouldn’t be an expense! It’s an investment and if you think of marketing as an expense then your brand development and business growth will be capped in the long run. In addition to this, marketing isn’t actually expensive. If you are a small business or start up, start small and build your way up. Our smallest retainers here at Graphics By M start from as little as £299 a month and are inclusive of some SEO work and social media support. In house marketing can certainly be a large financial commitment but this should not deter smaller businesses from developing marketing strategies. Instead of employing a Marketing Manager (the average salary of which is £41K) consider employing an agency until your marketing return can justify the cost. This will often cost less than £1,000 per month and eliminates the cost and risk of employing a member of staff. I don’t have the time to invest into marketing A good marketing agency will take time to learn about your company, your brand and your competition. This then allows them to develop strategies on your behalf. Speaking as an agency, we actually wouldn’t need that much of your time to run a successful campaign. The average client needs to give us around 5 hours in the on-boarding phase, and then around 45 minutes to an hour per week for things such as approvals. Outside of this, we will look after everything for you. It’s our job to merge seamlessly into your organisation and act as an extension of your team. Alternatively, if you decide to go down the employment route, then be satisfied that you have a “sales generator” on board that affords you the time to concentrate on running the business. Key Takeaways 1) In times of financial constraint spend more on marketing to reverse the trend and increase sales. If you decrease marketing spend it leads to a downwards spiral. 2) Just because you’ve not seen results in the past doesn’t mean marketing isn’t for you. Analyse your results and don’t be afraid to try a different approach or agency. 3) Marketing isn’t expensive!! Start small, see the results, then begin slowly increasing your spend. If you are investing in the right company/person you will without doubt, see results. 4) With the right help, it doesn’t take as much time to invest in your marketing as you may think. If this all sounds good and has got you pumped then book your FREE consultation with us to see how we can help your business sparkle ✨ at hello@forever8marketing.co.uk