Blog posts in Sales and marketing

Are you a social media-savvy business?

Twitter celebrated its seventh birthday on 21 March and, with an estimated 1.2 billion Twitter accounts now registered, 200 million active users and 400 million tweets sent each day, it is more important than ever that businesses have stringent social media policies in place.

With the majority of businesses using social media regularly as a tool for self-promotion, interaction with clients and even recruitment, it is easy to forget that potentially millions could read the message you are composing.

The law of defamation concerns the publishing of statements that harm the reputation or character of someone resulting from the false statements or actions of another, and it is crucial to remember that the law treats the online world much as it does the real world.

In other words, every tweet is potentially a fresh publication for defamation purposes, and anyone who tweets a defamatory statement could be held liable for damages. Businesses must be aware because every tweet sent from a work-linked account could attract vicarious liability.

Unfortunately, it does not stop there and even comments on personal accounts might bring a business into disrepute if they can be linked back, which also demonstrates how vital it is for employers to have clear policies and training in place to deal with social media activity.

The misuse of social media has also led to numerous publicised dismissals. A report obtained through the Freedom of Information Act found that 11 civil servants at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have been sacked for misusing Facebook or Twitter since January 2009, while a further 105 employees have faced disciplinary action.

A social media policy should ideally include detailed information on what staff should and shouldn’t say and do on social media, privacy settings that need to be enacted, how to react to requests for references and what to do if an adverse comment is published.

Because of the nature of social media, it is very difficult to abolish the use of it altogether and this may well be counterproductive anyhow because it offers an abundance of benefits.

However, it has to be used correctly and appropriately if these benefits are to be seen. Therefore, when employees are encouraged to use social media as part of their job, employers are advised to have a ‘best practice’ guide available. Appointing a ‘social media’ officer or champion as a point of contact for those in doubt is also highly advised.

Crucially, once a social media policy is drawn up it is important that it is not simply locked away in the store cupboard and out of employees’ sight. It must be easily accessible and well publicised to ensure that all staff members are fully aware of their responsibilities when it comes to using social media.

Even if your resources are limited and social media isn’t a primary tool for your business, the costs of not being in control of it within your company are too big to be ignored.

By Lee Calver of employment law specialists Workplace Law

• Social media and the law - a checklist
• Blog post: Internet users are answerable to the law too

Must-read PR advice for start-ups

Here’s something to think about if you hire somebody to look after your start-up’s PR: is it just plain boring?

In many cases, PR agencies will write any old story to tick boxes for their clients and generate arbitrary press coverage. And while general publicity doesn’t do any harm, it often doesn’t have a measurable impact on a start-up’s business performance.

PR activity that’s exciting, opinionated and valuable to other people will always yield future success and new business leads.

PR start-ups should avoid

Before we discuss the type of PR activity start-ups should undertake, it’s worth going over a few classic PR activities start-ups should avoid:

• Digital PR Asking for new followers and ‘likes’ on social media. It’s not a successful tactic to gain popularity on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. In fact, it’s often counter-intuitive and not very exciting to read on a news feed.  

• Traditional PR Press releases about irrelevant events. Newly installed coffee machines and the hiring of a new part-time receptionist is not effective PR. These sorts of stories do nothing to encourage people to find out more about your business.   

• Trade PR Paying for “colour separations”. Here’s a secret. Trade PR is dominated by something colour separations, which means that as long as the publication gets paid by the PR agency or client, they’ll publish any press release they’re given. This results in industry magazines full of promotional copy that nobody reads. Not very good value for money.

PR start-ups should embrace

Start-ups need their PR to have personality and value to put their name on the map and win new business. Here are three examples of PR activity that deliver fantastic results:

• Digital PR Maintaining an exciting blog about your business. This is one of the most effective ways to increase website traffic and website conversions, but it does take a lot of work over a period of time. Quality copywriting, good sharing practices and persistence deliver the goods.    

• Traditional PR Press releases about new business wins. Journalists love a good business success story. If your start-up has just landed its first major contract – shout about it. Stories like this provide genuine evidence that the business is doing well. Some good photography can really spice up a press cutting, too. Much better than an advertorial.   

• Trade PR Holding trade press events. PR agencies really earn their fee when they build relationships with influential journalists. A great way of doing this is to host a product launch or industry lunch and invite some industry hacks along. It’s a fantastic way of getting to know the people who could do wonders for your start-up in the future.   

Lucas Coe is founder of PR99, a PR service for start-ups and small businesses.

Is social media the equaliser for small businesses?

Is social media the equaliser for small businesses?

Social media provides opportunities for small businesses to compete with global brands. Any business can choose to register a Facebook or Twitter account and promote their products and services. Social media enables customers to define a brand’s reputation by choosing to follow, publicise or interact with an organisation and ‘share’ their services.

No matter how large or small your business, the overall goal remains the same: to sell products and to publicise and expand the brand. To achieve this, engagement with your target audiences is essential. In today’s digital era, engagement relies upon a brand’s online presence. Depending on a business’s use of social media, a small business can easily get more exposure then a multi-billion dollar organisation.

Live marketing events (ie exhibitions and conferences) provide a great platform for engagement and digital media has transformed the event industry by allowing exhibitions to reach a larger target audience. According to Exhibitor Magazine, the number of companies integrating social media to their exhibits had risen by more than 80 per cent in 2012.

A web interface on your exhibition stand allows customers to experience and engage with your brand first hand, creating debates across the social media sphere and enhancing the brand’s online presence. Let’s examine the key social media tools an exhibitor can use. 

LinkedIn is a business community that brings professionals together. It also provides the opportunity to follow other companies and participate in group discussions. Building genuine relationships and sharing knowledge is a great way to make new connections and nurture your relationships.

Companies attending exhibitions often use the group discussions feature to share their products and services, generating an interest in the product before, during and after the show. During the exhibition business cards are traded, and later connected on LinkedIn. 

A large portion of any customer base are likely to be Twitter users, who could choose to follow your brand. Businesses can use the hashtag (#) to keep their products trending and create a buzz around their brands. Updates on your products or services will connect with your customers. Many exhibitors give out free samples in exchange for a follow or re-tweet. Outreaching new customers has to be a primary business objective, ensuring you leave the exhibition with more connections that could well lead to face-to-face meetings.

A Facebook fan page provides an opportunity for customers to interact with your business and comment on your news. At exhibitions, companies offer incentives for users to ‘Like’ the fan page, which stands out on their newsfeed. Creating a live brand experience at an exhibition can generate many hits very quickly, so businesses will often try to entice the public to their stand with a USP. This is a cost-effective method for large brand exposure.

Pinterest is growing in use in the social media field and there were some 27m active users on the site in 2012. Exhibitors have used the tool to pin stands and products.  Inspiring technology is present at most commercial exhibitions and when shared, it entices online communities. This provides invaluable social exposure for brands products. 

Blogging is the heart of a digital marketing strategy. Social media draws traffic to the page where a company is able to describe its services in more detail. Simultaneously blogging during live events provides excellent exposure for your brand and unique insights to your company. Search engines such as Google recognise high quality content as a key ranking factor and it is important to write on your company blog to increase your sites visible presence rankings and engage your existing readership. 

Article contributed by James Barnett on behalf of Nimlok. James is a former consultant for the live events industry.

Clare Rayner's top tips for retailers in 2013

1. Focus on who your ideal customer is - those who are loyal and high spending - and make sure that everything you do is with your customer in mind.

2. Focus on cost cutting. Remember the old saying: "Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves." There are services to make this easier for you that don't cost a thing - check out Make It Cheaper for instance, which could enable you to make savings on your utilities.

3. Focus on your product, pricing and promotions - think about that ideal customer; make sure everything you present to them is aligned to their needs and wants and is clearly priced. Run engaging promotions that increase sales, don't drain margin and don't devalue the brand.

4. Make sure you are online. You don't need to be trading online (but it helps) but you do need to be findable. Spend some time to ensure you can be found for what you offer in your area. Make sure you add your business to Google places and as many free directories as you can. When people search for [category] in [Town] you want to be on page one! Add your business to www.independentshops.co.uk/.

5. Make sure you get social - retailers are using tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and blogs to stay in contact with customers. If you're not yet familiar with using social media then chose just one and learn how to use it. You'll soon find your feet, but if you do need a bit of help getting started, there is a free downloadable 'how-to' guide available at www.independentretail.co.uk/resources

Many small retailers start life as a hobby or project alongside full-time work; when is the right time to take the leap and make it a full-time occupation?

Clare replies: “Many people start retailing almost as a sideline and discover that it's consuming more and more of their time. Of course, if you're running a business alongside a full-time job you'll be getting income from both. Making the leap to being a full-time business owner - moving from employment to entrepreneurship - is never easy and only you will know when the time is right. Assess what income you need and how you'll achieve it and make sure you have the financial buffer to cover the transition. It's often valuable to join a local networking group to meet other local business people. You'll meet people who are in the position you'll be in when you make that leap and you may get a great deal of advice and support from the network as well.”

Is there enough support for small businesses from the government and banks at the moment?

Clare replies: “One of my greatest frustrations is the amount of money that seems to be thrown at start-ups and schemes to support start-ups but how little there is to help established businesses to keep going. I work with a privately funded organisation, Enterprise Rockers, and their mission is to support micro businesses (ie those with fewer than ten employees) to keep going once the honeymoon phase of start-up has passed. There is almost no support for established businesses from the government, and their stance on business rates for retailers in particular (of any size) is crippling. Banks are getting better; the anecdotal feedback I've had is variable - it seems that the success rate with banks has more to do with the business owner's relationship with their local business banking manager than it has to do with any specific bank or banking policy.”

On the whole, how would you rate the UK in terms of entrepreneurial spirit and achievement?

Clare replies: “I think the UK has huge entrepreneurial spirit and achieves an enormous amount. It's sad that much of the media focus is on super-star entrepreneurs like the BBC Dragons and not on the real-life entrepreneurs. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has a campaign called Real-Life Entrepreneurs, and I've agreed to champion that for them. This is all about recognising the micro businesses that work hard to support themselves and perhaps a couple of employees, who earn a reasonable living and enjoy a reasonable life.

“These real-life entrepreneurs won't make millions overnight; they won't be bought out by mega brands and they don't need investors to accelerate their growth. They're like the vast majority of entrepreneurs: people enjoying what they do and making a decent living. It's important to celebrate these people and recognise their achievements - the thousands of plumbers, decorators, designers and web developers who work freelance are probably more valuable to the UK economy than one of the celebrity entrepreneurs! It's important that we acknowledge that when talking about the mix of UK small businesses.”

Clare is well known by most independent retailers as a 'voice of the industry'. With years of experience creating awareness for our high street shops, retailers and traders she is one of the most trusted experts in the UK. To read more advice for her visit www.retailchampion.co.uk

This article first appeared on the Towergate Insurance website and was written by Jonathan Falgate.

A beginner's guide to online marketing

The internet has made it easier than ever before to find information. Hours, if not days, of going through newspapers, books and asking experts has been whittled down to a quick search on your favourite search engine.

With this increased level of trust in the internet, people are now becoming more accustomed to purchasing products online although there is still a significant proportion who prefer human interaction, as 45% of calls convert into sales at some point.

If you’re thinking of selling or marketing your business online, you should know it’s very competitive. But if done properly, the rewards can be great as well. Here are four quick tips to get you started

Become an expert in your field

As a new business with an online presence, gaining trust and customer loyalty can be difficult. The vast number of fraudulent websites means that users prefer to purchase products from sites they know of and/or feel they can trust. One way to gain this trust is to become known as an expert in your industry sector by creating a blog on your site and updating it regularly. Let your professionalism shine through by replying to comments on your blog and guest posting on other blogs relevant to your niche. 

Use social media to promote your business

Social media promotion is easy and it’s free, which makes it a marketing portal that should not be overlooked. Sign up to a social media site that you think would best suit your interests and post information such as news about your business, developments within your industry, new products as well as any special promotions you’re offering.

Analyse your site’s performance

Use tools such as Google Analytics and visitor level call tracking software to determine which parts of your site are converting the best. Once a cookie has been placed on your site, Google Analytics can show you which pages were viewed by your customers. This information can be used to determine which pages on your site and which marketing activity is converting and which are not.

Create specific landing pages

Unlike your homepage, which is designed to be the central page allowing access to other areas of your site, a landing page is designed to achieve a certain goal. This could be signing up to a mailing list, purchasing a product or even downloading an information pack. Use a landing page to help you increase sales of your products or services. Linking marketing activity for a particular product, for example, to the product landing page has been shown to significantly increase sales or enquiries for that product.

Rashed Khan has written this article on behalf of call tracking experts ResponseTap

3 essential tips on how to close a deal

Negotiators tend to get stuck when it comes time to close a deal when they keep hearing "no". There are some simple tricks you can learn to help increase your closing rate. Here are three tips that will turn that "no" into a "yes".

Start with a Close, end with a Close

From the moment you meet your potential customer think about how you are going to close the deal. Always greet them with a smile and form a relationship. People will rarely sign a deal with someone they don't like or respect. Ask as many questions as possible about the problems they are having that your product or service may resolve. This is not when you start selling, it’s simply asking questions and listening to the answers. Gather as much information as possible so that during your presentation you can sell directly to the problems they’re experiencing.

Your presentation is where the selling takes place and it should be the only time you’re in sales mode. Your presentation should be a little different every time, since you want it to be tailored to each individual client's problems. During your presentation, point out every resolution to the problems they explained earlier. The presentation should be enthusiastic and hold their attention. If there is more than one person in the room, talk to everyone as a group.

Once the presentation is done, your selling is done. This is where you sit back as calmly as possible and listen to reactions. You should become very consultative when answering any additional questions or concerns at this time.

The Mini Pre-Close

During your presentation, as you’re selling to the customer’s concerns, squeeze in as many mini pre-closes as possible. The more times they say yes to a small question the more likely they will say yes to the big question. This puts them in a habit of saying "yes" instead of that dreaded "no". The best way to do this is after you make a point about one of the problems that your product or service can resolve simply ask, "This solves your problem, right?" As you ask this question nod your head and chances are they will agree with you.

After completing your presentation repeat this process one more time before you sit back and listen to responses. Do this by simply asking all of the same questions again. This may seem repetitive, but this is just giving the customer time to realise how wonderful your product or service is.

Get them emotional

Once your presentation is complete and you’ve answered any additional questions or concerns now it is time to “ask” for the deal. This is the most common mistake ever made - people don't ask for the deal. Be assertive and ask as if you assume they will say "yes" (commonly known as an assumptive close).

You might have to do a little more work at this point. This is where you need to get them back into the emotional state of mind. People buy for emotional reasons, not logical reasons. Studies show that pictures help to put people into an emotional state. You can achieve this by drawing a simple picture, maybe a graph showing statistics or a picture of your product – it doesn't have to be fancy.

Another easy way to get someone in the emotional state of mind is to talk into their left ear. This triggers the right side of the brain, which is the emotional side. So be sure to be seated on the left hand side of the decision-maker in the room. 

Supplied by negotiation experts The Gap Partnership US.

Three DIY link building tips for small firms

Having a website is only part of the marketing jigsaw. To make it purr you need to keep it updated with fresh, relevant content; optimise it for search engines; build a social presence, etc. A large part of the digital marketing puzzle is link-building, which increase the search engine equity of your website. One of the primary ways of doing this is by encouraging other relevant websites to link to it.

New websites and new businesses don’t need to invest thousands of pounds in SEO and link building campaigns. There’s a lot you can do yourself to get the ball rolling, which mostly involves a bit of hustle and some common sense.

Here are my three DIY link building tips for small businesses:

1 Who do you know?

One of the best places to start is by utilising existing business relationships. Chances are your suppliers, customers and other contacts will be more than happy to link to your website, it’s just a case of asking the right person.

List everyone in your existing business network. Ask them to link to you. Don’t discount those who don’t have resources pages. Ask to write a testimonial about their services or even contribute a case study about your experience. This way you’ll create value for them, as opposed to simply requesting a link.

2 Niche and local directories

‘Directory submissions’ have become dirty words in digital marketing, predominately because of the swathes that have been created solely for those looking to build links. Most will advise you to avoid them, because they tend to be flagged as spam by search engines. By submitting to them you risk wasting your time or worse – being penalised for overtly trying to manipulate the rankings. This doesn’t mean that all directories should be avoided – far from it.

Chances are they’ll be a few directories curated by people that are specific to your industry. These represent a relatively straightforward means of listing your business and getting a link. Try simple queries related to your niche and see what comes up. For example, if you manufacture pumps, just try ‘pumps directory’. Once you’ve mined that, search for something more general, but still relevant (eg‘process industry directory’ or ‘British manufacturers’ directory’).

3 Organisations and associations

Once you’ve cleaned up the directories in your niche, start thinking about industry bodies and associations. Check that any associations you’re a member of link to you from their website. If not, ask them to. Again, it might be useful to think beyond just asking for a link. How can you add more value to that community? Perhaps you could get involved more by sharing your business experiences on their websites. Are there any organisations relevant to your business that you’re not a member of that it might be worth joining?

Now what?

Once you’ve boxed off your connections, niche directories and organisations, you’ll have built strong linking foundations for your website. You might even have whetted your appetite to try a few more advanced tactics. If you’re ever unsure about whether it’s a good linking opportunity, just follow link building expert Eric Ward’s Litmus test: ‘Would you pursue the link if there were no search engine at all?’ In other words, would you want a connection between yours website and someone else’s, even if you weren’t doing it simply to build the value perceived by search engines? Follow this rule and you won’t go far wrong.

Michael Smith is a marketer at Leeds-based SEO agency 9xb.

Visit the Marketing Donut for more advice about optimising your website for search engines. 

Marketing your start up with your tablet

So, you had a great idea, you turned it into a business and now you are well on your way. Brilliant! But wouldn’t you like to make running your new business even easier? Your tablet device could provide the answer.

A mere few years ago we didn’t have access to handy tech devices such as tablets, but now there is an app for pretty much anything you can think of – including time management and marketing.

Marketing is an integral part of any business, as you’ve probably already found out, but often it’s something that can fall by the wayside because of a lack of time. Thanks to tablet devices, your start up doesn’t have to suffer. You can give your marketing strategies some attention, even while you’re on the move, thanks to these fantastic tablet apps:

Raven Tools

Raven Tools boasts an array of tools and add-ons that allow you to manage your marketing campaigns, as well as some impressive features that work well with industry profession API’s [application programming interface], including SEOmoz and WordTracker.

Raven Tools is brilliant for allowing you to tailor exportable PDFs and custom reports to your brand, handy for adding a professional touch to your reporting. Offering two different price packages, as well as optional add-ons, Raven Tools is the app that allows you to tailor absolutely everything. No wonder it’s so popular.

Wildfire By Google

A social marketing app, Wildfire offers solutions for all of your social marketing needs. Boasting a recently upgraded marketing suite, this app allows you to mix and match your products until you find the best solution for your business.

Using the app you can promote single or multiple campaigns, including sweepstakes, ads and promotions to your customers via the main social networking sites – this allows you to get your message across to large audience, quickly. Comprehensive analytics are also offered with this app.

Payvment

A clever app that will help you to grow your online and social presence, thanks to good old ‘word-of-mouth’. Much like Wildfire, Payvment allows you to easily create a virtual storefront on their Facebook fan page that allows customers to buy directly from Facebook, using PayPal to complete their transaction. There have been mixed reviews from businesses for this app, but it is a free tool, so give it a go.

Elephanti

This free app allows people to connect with their favourite venues, brands, and stores, as well as rewarding shoppers when they make a purchase via the app. Small businesses can create a virtual shop window, upload photos and provide information and updates, as well as invite customers to rate them.

The Elephanti app allows you, as a business, to have a direct point of contact with your customers, enabling you to find out what they like and want. The app is brilliant for letting potential customers know about your business and when a customer ‘checks in’ to your store you can communicate with them about every aspect of your business.

• Freelance writer Ella Mason specialises in providing information on how businesses can improve their marketing through the use of Lenovo entry-level android tablets.

Seven top tips for giving feedback

Feedback is important to us all. Constructive feedback helps to motivate people, but poorly delivered feedback can have the opposite effect. So it’s essential to get it right every time. If you’re running a small business or or start-up, resources are likely to be tight and you need everyone working efficiently, so it’s even more important to ensure your feedback generates the necessary results.

We’ve developed these seven top tips to help get it right every time…

1.    Make the person feel like a million dollars

Thank the person for their contribution and make them feel great about themselves. Praise them for their efforts and let them know you understand how much work was involved. 

2.    Be enthusiastic

This is your opportunity to empathise and encourage the person to develop and improve their skills. Take an interest in the person’s goals. It is not about perfection every time; it’s about progress towards a goal. Encourage them to never give up.

3.    Give specific examples

To demonstrate you really understand how the person’s contribution added value to your business, give specific examples. Collect your comments into meaningful sets to make them easier to digest. Start each set with praise for what they did well and then make constructive suggestions as appropriate.

4.    Bigger picture

Explain to the person how their work contributes to the running of the organisation. This is very inspirational and will often help them to understand how to do the job better.

5.    Listen when asking for change

If you want the person to change their behaviour, give an example of the behaviour you want to change. Point out ways their behaviour has affected other people within your business. Allow the person to tell their side of the story. There may have been genuine reasons for their behaviour. The request to change should be made in a non-aggressive manner and take their comments into consideration. Both the giver and receiver of the feedback should walk away feeling that a fair resolution was achieved.

6.    Use a light a touch

Ask yourself if the person's performance was adequate for the purpose, rather than comparing it with how you would have done it.

7.    Offer a suggestion sandwich

A successful model for feedback is to start with positive comments about the person’s strengths and successes. Follow this with constructive suggestions about how to perform even better, allowing them to comment and ask questions. Finally bring in some additional positive points and encourage them to feel motivated to introduce the changes you have suggested.

Many people find delivering “negative feedback” difficult, but by following these suggestions giving feedback can be a constructive and rewarding process for both parties.

Mairead Dillon and Jane Penson are members of Toastmasters International, a worldwide not-for-profit organisation focused on developing communication and leadership skills 

Some amazing facts about the growth of mobile commerce

Mobile commerce – or m-commerce – has been touted as the next big evolution in consumer shopping for many years. It does look like it has finally become a reality, though not necessarily as a standalone technology, but as a further channel for online shopping.

The opportunity exists primarily due to the sheer numbers of smartphone users. Here are some recent findings:

• Ofcom reported in March 2012 that 43% of UK adults now own a smartphone. Other than the obvious activities of making/receiving calls and text messaging, users reported they used their phone to send and receive emails (29%), access the internet (40%) and visit social networking sites (23%) with 33% agreeing that their phone is more important for accessing the internet than any other device they own.
• The IMRG Capgemini e-retail sales index states that the mobile commerce market increased by 254% year-on-year in March 2012 for smartphones and tablets users.
• According Our Mobile Planet research 31% of smartphone users have purchased a product or service on their smartphone and of these smartphone shoppers 56% have made a purchase in the past month. 24% of respondents intentionally have their smartphone with them while shopping to compare prices and inform themselves about products.
• Another interesting finding is product or service research. Of those that used a smartphone for research, 39% went on to purchase via a computer and 24% bought offline. The survey also highlighted that 17% of in store and 16% of online smartphone users have changed their minds about purchasing a product or service as a result of information they gather at the time from their phones.

Price comparison activity represents a great opportunity for online retailers to get in front of consumers when they’re actively seeking products in a traditional high street environment. Consumers can check pricing with comparison sites such as Twenga and Price Grabber either via a mobile browser or by using a dedicated app while shopping.

Therefore, online retailers that have a mobile-optimised ecommerce store and list their products on price comparison sites have a real opportunity to capture the interest of shoppers. But it’s important to view mobile as a complementary technology for engaging with customers, rather than the only method retailers and e-tailers should use for attracting sales.

Make sure you choose an ecommerce solution that can create a mobile store easily and integrate your regular ecommerce site with price-comparison sites. The key to success is to ensure all your orders are processed from one central location so that managing orders and stock does not become a logistical burden.

Simon Armstrong of SellerDeck.

Are postal prices making businesses feel second class?

If there were queues at your local Post Office last week, this is why: Royal Mail’s much-talked-about prices increases came into force today. The price of a first class stamp is up 30%, from 46p to 60p. Second class stamps have rocketed by an inflation-busting 38% - from 36p to 50p.

The most obvious and immediate effect of the price rise has been stamp stockpiling. But perhaps more worryingly, research conducted by Pitney Bowes suggest that 81% of small and medium-sized companies think today’s postal rate change will have a negative impact on their business.  Of these, 7% say that they fear their business may not survive the threat.

Going second class?

The research, conducted amongst 1,000 businesses, found that 15 per cent of companies would consider moving to a franking machine to avoid the price hike. However, almost half claimed they will be sending less post, or swapping postal communications for email. And 25% reckoned they’d switch to second class more often in an effort to save cash.

Given the widespread news coverage and controversy over the new prices, it’s perhaps surprising to see the research reveal that many businesses were entirely unaware of the changes.  Almost three quarters (69%) of those polled said that advance information provided to them was ‘poor and confusing’, and they were not aware that the changes would be so significant.

Stamp out any panic

So, how prepared are you for the new postal rates? Well, it doesn’t spell disaster just because you’re not sitting pretty on thousands of stamps. “It’s important that businesses don’t panic and abandon physical mail in a bid to avoid high postage rates,” reckons Phil Hutchison, marketing director of Pitney Bowes UK.

He says that while email has a part to play, an envelope sent through the post is still a compelling proposition: “Successful customer communications depend on a delicate balance of message, medium and timing. Although digital communications undoubtedly have their place, traditional print campaigns are still critical for most businesses and are likely to remain so for many years to come.”

Tweak your postage habits

You may be able to reduce the impact the rate change has on your company by making small changes to how you use the mail. Shifting to a franking machine can save you a significant amount of cash – in some cases, bulk discounts can be more than enough to offset the increased price of stamps.

There are other benefits to using a franking machine too. You can add your logo to the top right of every envelope you send, reinforcing your company identity and perhaps increasing the number of people who open your mailings.

If you’d rather stick with stamps, take a close look at how Royal Mail charges for different envelope sizes. If you fold your documents into letter format, you can cut the cost of first class postage from 90p to 60p.

For more help dealing with the postage increase, you can check www.ratechange.co.uk, where Pitney Bowes has published advice.

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