If you’re like most business owners, you have probably been thinking about updating your website for some time. And now that you’ve made the decision, you want to find someone you can trust to make it happen without further delay. But before you brief a web designer or agency to start the project, it pays to get a few things clear first…

When your business is about selling complex technology products to business buyers, some people are sceptical about the relevance of social media. But there are huge differences between the social media platforms and who uses them. LinkedIn is unashamedly a business to business platform, optimised for people who want to build business relationships.

All great marketing is based on one thing: customer insight. The more you (and your marketing people) can see the world through your customers’ eyes, the more your marketing will be tuned in to their priorities.

When you have limited time and resources to dedicate to marketing, it pays to focus on things that will really make a difference. Near the top of the marketing priority list is a good set of customer success stories or case studies.

Before you plan your next direct marketing or sales campaign, think carefully about how many people you need to contact. If you have previously run campaigns that return, say, 20 sales leads per 1000 prospects, then your focus now should be designing a campaign that improves on that ratio.