Blog Description Copyright @AnthonyDotNet https://toddleabout.co.uk Fri, 05 December 2025 05:01:52 Fri, 05 December 2025 05:01:52 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2025/december/05/how-generative-ai-will-influence-brand-storytelling-in-2025/ Generative AI and Why It Matters Generative AI refers to models that create text, images, audio, or video based on patterns they have learned. For brands, this technology offers three clear benefits: speed, scale, and consistency. It can help teams generate new ideas, draft scripts, create visuals, and craft messages that remain true to a brand’s voice. It does not replace the creative process, but it enables marketing teams to work more efficiently and communicate effectively. Personalisation at Scale One of the biggest shifts in 2025 is the rise of personalised storytelling. Audiences want content that feels like it was made specifically for them. Generative AI can analyze behavior, interests, and past engagement to help brands create customized narratives for different groups. For example, returning customers may receive a video with a familiar tone, while new audiences see a version that introduces the brand’s values. The story stays the same, but the delivery changes based on who is watching. This level of personalisation builds trust and helps brands create stronger connections. More Efficient Creative Workflows Creative teams can now use AI as a partner during the ideation stage. Tools can suggest concepts, provide script options, or create visual previews. This helps teams transition from planning to execution more quickly. Instead of getting stuck in long brainstorming cycles, they can experiment with different versions, compare results, and refine the story. AI accelerates the entire workflow, freeing up more time for strategic thinking. AI-Generated Videos and Automated Visuals Video continues to dominate online content, and AI makes video production more accessible. Script-to-video and text-to-video tools can turn written ideas into visuals in minutes. Brands can create short videos, voiceovers, and simple animations without requiring advanced editing skills. In 2025, these tools will be used for product teasers, quick social clips, customer stories, and even ad variations tailored for different platforms. Short-form AI clips are especially valuable. They help brands stay visible without requiring excessive manual editing. AI can also adjust tone, pacing, or visual style to fit the story a brand wants to tell. Emotion and Data Work Together Storytelling relies on emotion. Generative AI can help marketers understand what resonates with their audience. By analyzing responses and trends, AI can identify which tone (joy, calm, excitement, or urgency) works best for each group. This helps brands create stories that feel more natural and meaningful. The narrative becomes easier to shape because it is backed by data rather than guesswork. Tools Shaping Storytelling in 2025 A set of AI-powered tools now supports faster and more efficient storytelling: AI video : These tools automate tasks such as trimming, cutting, adding subtitles, and polishing. They enable teams to transform raw footage into professional-quality videos without complex workflows. They are ideal for ads, testimonial stories, or product explainers. AI clip generator : These tools create short clips from long footage or scripts. They make it easy to repurpose podcasts, webinars, livestreams, or long product demos. An AI clip generator can also automatically arrange clips and remove pauses or mistakes, which helps brands publish clean, engaging stories more quickly. Video compressor : Prepare files for social media platforms and websites. They maintain high quality while reducing size, which helps videos load faster. This is essential for audiences with slow internet connections or those who have a mobile-first approach. AI storyboard and visual tools: These tools create moodboards, draft scenes, and generate sample visuals. They help teams visualise the story early, which improves planning and consistency. Looking Ahead Generative AI will not remove the human element in storytelling. Instead, it will support it. Brands still need a clear message, a strong voice, and an authentic purpose. AI simply helps them express these ideas across formats and platforms with more clarity and less effort. In 2025, the strongest stories will come from teams that combine human creativity with AI-powered precision. This balance will shape how brands connect with people and how stories evolve in the years ahead. https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2025/december/05/how-generative-ai-will-influence-brand-storytelling-in-2025/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2025/december/05/how-generative-ai-will-influence-brand-storytelling-in-2025/ Fri, 05 December 2025 05:01:52 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2025/november/20/the-weird-psychology-of-duolingo-and-how-it-could-change-your-business/ A few weeks ago, I decided to resurrect my long-dormant German skills. I say "skills". I did GCSE German over 30 years ago, and to be honest, it's been gathering dust next to my Kylie Minogue LP and Walkman ever since. But my brother-in-law lives in Germany, and every time we visit, I feel a bit like a tourist in my own family. So I downloaded Duolingo, determined to at least master buying some bread and locating the nearest toilet. And now I can’t stop. Seriously. I’m logging in every single day. I’m chasing daily streaks like a dog after a tennis ball. I’ve somehow become emotionally invested in my place in the league tables. I’m doing friend quests . (Yes, that's a thing.) Why? I’ve no idea. No one cares. There are no prizes. I don’t even know these other people. But I care. And that, my friend, is the dark magic of gamification . It’s Pointless. And It Works. Duolingo is absolutely dripping with gamification. Daily streaks. XP points. Gems. Leaderboards. Quests. Leagues. Little animations that celebrate your tiniest wins like you’ve just conquered Everest in flip-flops. It’s all, frankly, a bit silly. And yet... Duolingo is widely recognised as the world’s leading language‑learning app. In 2024 it brought in about $748 million in revenue , and had over 116 million monthly users . It’s growing over 40% year-on-year. And while they’ve nailed lots of things - slick User Experience, bite-sized lessons, a cute owl that guilt-trips you better than your grandma – I believe it’s the gamification that keeps people coming back. Because gamification, done well, creates: * Engagement * Loyalty * Trust * Habit * Community * Even virality That’s a lot of ROI for some animated fireworks and pretend gemstones. So What Does This Have to Do With You? Well, if you run a small business, especially one that involves customers doing something repeatedly - like booking sessions, coming to classes, placing orders, or engaging with your content - gamification might just be your new best friend. You may already have some gamification bakes in to your business – a lot of businesses do, sometimes without even really realising that that’s what they are doing. But I bet you don’t have as much as DuoLingo. They’ve taught us that you can never have too much! So here are some ways you could dabble in it (without needing a development team the size of Google): The Children’s Class Provider * Award badges to kids for milestones: 5th class, 10th class, first performance. * Reward parents with discounts or entries into a prize draw after certain streaks. * Publish fun leaderboards ("Top Ten Attendance Champions this Term!"). The Personal Trainer * Points for completing workouts, hitting goals, or sharing progress. * Different "levels" of clients (Rookie, Warrior, Beast Mode). * Monthly challenges with mini rewards (like a smoothie voucher or free class). The Nursery or School * Celebrate attendance or behaviour streaks (think sticker charts 2.0). * Use digital badges for achievements: "Kindness King/Queen", "Lunchtime Legend". * Turn parent engagement (e.g. attending meetings or completing feedback forms) into a game. The Family Day Out Business * Offer collectable digital badges for each visit or trail completed. * Hidden QR codes around the venue that unlock fun facts or discounts. * Reward social media shares with points or perks. What about Toddle About & Book That In? Well, here’s what I’m playing with: For Toddle About, we started our Top of the Tots lists based on reviews not long ago… which we will be improving soon and is still gaining some traction. But that’s gamification – I didn’t realise that at the time. I’m also thinking about gamifying our advertisers’ campaigns . For example, perhaps: * A leaderboard based on response rates, creativity, CTA power, or use of tracking links. * Badges for milestones like "Best Use of Free Extras" or "Ad That Made Me Spit Out My Tea". For Book That In, we could maybe add: * A point system for key actions: setting up an account, making bookings, linking Stripe, getting reviews. * Loyalty points for longevity, or status tiers: Beginner, Paduan, Master, Legend. * Points unlock perks, features, or just bragging rights. Would it work? I don’t know yet (I’d love to hear your thoughts!) But I do know that we humans are funny creatures. We love points. We love streaks. We love being part of something. Even if it’s utterly pointless. Final Thought: Play to Win This isn’t about manipulating your customers with bells and whistles. It’s about understanding how people tick - and creating tiny moments of joy and reward that keep them coming back. You don’t need to build the next Duolingo. You just need to make your experience feel a little more fun . And if you get it right? 2026 might just be your most engaging year yet. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go defend my league position from a 12-year-old in Tokyo. Till next time, Tim   About The Author Tim Freed is the Co-Founder of both Toddle About and Book That In . Having built and managed a 50-strong team of door-to-door sales people in his early 20s, he joined the corporate world and built a multi-million pound recruitment team. Then Tim turned to entrepreneurship - founding Toddle About in 2010, which is now a thriving franchise business. He went on to launch Book That In in 2017 with his business partner, Alec Wadey, which is now one of the fastest growing online booking systems in the UK. Tim is always learning and striving to improve and loves nothing more than sharing his hard-won knowledge and experience in sales, marketing, leadership and entrepreneurship with other business owners to help them on their own journeys. https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2025/november/20/the-weird-psychology-of-duolingo-and-how-it-could-change-your-business/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2025/november/20/the-weird-psychology-of-duolingo-and-how-it-could-change-your-business/ Thu, 20 November 2025 08:40:23 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2025/september/11/roller-skates-west-end-tickets-and-a-masterclass-in-marketing/ A couple of weeks ago, I found myself in London with the family, surrounded by glitter, music and people on roller skates. No, we hadn’t accidentally joined a hen do. We were in town for my daughter’s 18th birthday to see Starlight Express . We love trips to theatre – particularly musical theatre. Starlight was quite the spectacle, and we had a great night – but I have to admit it wasn’t my favourite show. I guess roller skating trains aren’t really my thing! But that’s not the story. The real story happened before we even got to the theatre. My wife had booked our tickets as part of Kids Week – if you don’t know it, it’s a brilliant national promo that happens once a year, where kids go free to top London shows with a paying adult. Which basically means half-price theatre tickets. If you’ve got three kids like we do, it’s definitely worth checking out. We’d got tickets through Kids Week before, but this year, my wife was prepped. She knew exactly when the tickets were going live, had reminders set, and was online at 10am sharp on launch day. And what did she find? A queue. A 39,000-person queue. For theatre tickets. In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. THAT is the bit that made me sit up and take notice. How on earth do you get that many people queued up, ready to throw money at you the second your offer goes live? Enter: The Oversubscribed Business If you've read Oversubscribed by Daniel Priestley, you'll know this exact scenario is what he talks about. The dream state for any business is when demand exceeds supply . When people have to move quickly to buy from you. Like Glastonbury tickets. Or a new iPhone. Or... Kids Week. The trick isn’t just having a great product or offer. It’s making it scarce , and making sure people know it’s scarce. Kids Week gets it right on both counts. Half-price tickets to top London shows? That’s a killer offer. But the real genius is in the way it’s promoted. It drops once a year. There are limited half price tickets available for each show. And the best tickets sells out really fast. It’s also been building momentum year after year, thanks to a potent combo of social media, advertising, newsletter reminders and word of mouth. So it’s important to realise that getting to this positioning can take some time.   So What Can We Learn From This? If you run a baby or toddler business - classes, nurseries, photographers, party entertainers, anything like that - there’s gold in this lesson for you. Because, chances are, your business already has limited supply. Maybe you only have space for 10 kids in your class. Maybe your venue only fits 30 families. Maybe you’re fully booked except for one Tuesday morning slot. This is your advantage . But do your customers know that? You’d be amazed how many business owners keep this a secret. Instead of saying, "We’re nearly full! Book now to grab the last place," they quietly let the spaces trickle out. Scarcity only works if people know the thing might disappear. As Daniel Priestley says: "When there is more demand than supply, people value it more, talk about it more, and act faster."   How to Create Your Own Buying Frenzy You don’t need 39,000 people in your queue. You just need more people than you have places available. Here are a few ways to use the Kids Week effect in your business: * Cap your numbers on purpose. If your room fits 20, cap it at 12 and promote the small group vibe as a premium experience. You can always add more spaces later if you want. * Shout about scarcity. "Only 3 places left!" isn’t pushy - it’s helpful. * Create a launch date. Don’t just open your next term for bookings - announce it in advance and open the doors at a set time. * Build Anticipation. Get interested people to sign up to an email list or join a WhatsApp group where they can be the first to hear when sales are open. Trickle in messages about how many people are on the list vs the number of places are available so they know they’ll need to move fast to grab a ticket. * Encourage referrals. Got raving fans? Tell them when your next launch goes live and ask them to share the news.  * Reward fast movers. Offer a cheeky bonus (early bird discount, freebie, VIP slot) for people who book on day one, or for the first X many bookers. Let them know that VIPs get first dibs 24 hours early. It’s not hype. It’s intentional marketing that makes people act.   Final Thought People love to be part of something that feels exclusive. And no, you don’t have to be West End Theatre to make that happen. If you’ve got something valuable, something limited, and you tell the right people in the right way… magic happens. Till next time, Tim PS. If you fancy testing out this strategy with an advert in the next edition of Toddle About, now’s the time to act. Booking deadline’s coming up fast - and we only have 3 spots left. 😉 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2025/september/11/roller-skates-west-end-tickets-and-a-masterclass-in-marketing/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2025/september/11/roller-skates-west-end-tickets-and-a-masterclass-in-marketing/ Thu, 11 September 2025 15:50:33 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2025/august/21/how-children-s-activity-providers-can-use-ai-to-save-time-and-grow-faster/ By Tim Freed, Book That In When I was growing up, my parents ran their own business. I remember watching my mum work through the night, doing her VAT return by hand. She’d be there with her massive paper ledger, poring over handwritten receipts, looking utterly frazzled. When I was about 17 (we’re talking back in the 90s here!), I discovered Excel – and I saw there was a much better way for her to be doing this. So I built her a spreadsheet. Suddenly, the maths was instant. The errors disappeared. And she got a good night’s sleep. That was my first taste of automation, and I’ve been addicted ever since. Not because I’m a tech wizard (I’m really not), but – if I’m completely honest - because I’m a bit lazy and hate doing boring stuff. If you’d rather not being doing admin, this article’s for you. Because when you’re running a children’s activity business, you’ve got enough on your plate already. And AI is hands-down the best opportunity we’ve ever had to save time, reduce stress, and scale faster without cloning ourselves.   First up: What AI is great at (and what it’s not) If we’re going to make AI part of our team, we need to understand its strengths and weaknesses. It’s really good at: * Repetitive tasks: Give it a routine job, and it’ll do it a thousand times without blinking. * Speedy content creation: Emails, blogs, captions, flyers - it spits them out in seconds. * Idea generation: Stuck for a blog topic or class name? It’s a brainstorming machine. * Data crunching: It can scan, sort, and summarise data much faster than we ever could. * Personalisation at scale: Custom messages for hundreds of people? Easy. * 24/7 availability: It doesn’t sleep, doesn’t get sick, and doesn’t ask for holidays. * Following instructions: If you’re clear and specific, it’s shockingly efficient. * Working across platforms: It can plug into tools, CRMs, websites, and more - automating tasks from end to end. But it isn’t perfect. It’s bad at: * Understanding context: It doesn’t know your business priorities, values, or long-term goals. Even if you tell it all that stuff, it will never understand your perspective on those things. * Strategic thinking: Because of the point above, AI can’t make decisions about what matters most or what to do next. * Empathy and emotional nuance: It doesn’t actually feel anything - even if it pretends to. * Human connection: It can mimic tone, but – because it can’t feel - it can’t truly connect, build trust or develop relationships like you can. * Originality: AI can remix ideas well, but it doesn’t invent or innovate in a truly human way. * Accuracy: It often gets facts wrong (but it’ll say them with full confidence). * Judgement: It doesn’t know when to be bold, funny, subtle, or sensitive - unless you tell it. Here’s what I really want you to take on board: AI doesn’t have a soul. It doesn’t care about anything – about your customers, your mission, or whether your brand sounds like you or a teenager with a thesaurus. So there’s a real risk that if you rely on AI too much – especially if you use it poorly - you’ll end up pumping out the same bland content as everyone else. And your uniqueness – the magic that makes you – disappears. Your personality, your stories, your tone of voice – these are the things that make people trust you, connect with you, buy from you . So yes, use AI to get started. To speed things up. To handle the boring bits. But always bring the human back in. Because being human is your superpower. And in a world drowning in AI sludge, it’s how you’ll stand out. With that said, let’s get in to some ways in which AI can work wonders – when you use it right:   1. Free Up Your Time with a Custom GPT Assistant Custom GPTs are like supercharged interns you train once, then they work 24/7. Actually, scratch that. They’re better than interns. Imagine hiring a VA to: Write emails in your voice Summarise meeting transcripts in different formats Critique adverts, check dimensions, and suggest better headlines Analyse spreadsheets Write your blog posts (that actually sound like you) That used to involve multiple hires, months of onboarding, and a chunky wage bill. With Custom GPTs, you can train one assistant in about 15 minutes, and it’ll do all of the above instantly. No complaints. No coffee breaks. No payroll. Well, you will need to pay for Chat GPT Pro – but at £20 p/m, that’s a no-brainer in my opinion. The value you get FAR exceeds that cost. And the best bit? You can make as many as you like. One for emails. One for summarising support calls. One for sales. One for your franchisees. It’s game-changing.   Want to try this? I’ve created a step-by-step guide that walks you through how to create a Custom GPT that will write an article in your tone of voice (I used it to write this article, in fact). It will take you about 15 minutes to set up. You’ll need to review the articles is writes, request changes, tweak bits by hand to polish it and make sure YOU are present behind the article (I’ve done that too). But the Custom GPT will do all the heavy lifting – and, as long as you give it a good prompt that has your stories and lots of details in it - it will generate an excellent first draft in moments. ➡️ Download my free step-by-step guide to creating your own Custom GPT   2. Boost Your Marketing with AI-Generated Images and Videos Whether you're creating a flyer for a new class or a meme for social media, AI tools can now do things that would have taken you (or a designer) hours. They can: Create stunning, professional-looking designs Add your text in fonts and layouts that actually make sense Draw illustrations of your brand mascot or character in different poses and styles Build entire adverts or memes based on a single prompt Here are a couple of examples of graphics I created in Chat GPT:      AI can even create videos for you now. Tools like Sora and Hailuo AI can take a simple text prompt like “primary school children at a dance class” and turn it into a short video clip in seconds. That exact prompt generated this video . You can also animate an existing photo, making the characters move or talk, or even combine an image of someone’s face with a text description to create an eerily lifelike video of them in action. It’s still early days — sometimes the outputs are weird (I’ve had my own face swapped for a stranger’s before!) — but the potential is huge. Imagine being able to storyboard an ad, create a social reel, or bring your mascot to life with just a sentence. Here are a couple of examples: 1. Toddle About Monkey Mascot surfing 2. Tim as a superhero, rescuing a business owner from a burning building. Even better – tools like AdCreative.ai will: * Build full ads from scratch * Write the script * Add voiceovers * Output multiple versions It’s pretty impressive. And it’s only going to get better. Here’s an example I created to promote our new CRM tool, Book That In AutoMate.   3. Convert More Leads with Smart Automation This is where the money magic happens. Because you can have the best classes in town – but if you’re not following up properly, you’re leaking leads. Most small business owners are terrible at follow-up. Not because they don’t care – but because they’re doing everything . Who has time to send four follow-ups? And that’s the number to remember: most sales happen after four or more touchpoints. But most people give up after two. A CRM solves that. It will do things like: Managing WhatsApp, SMS, and email conversations in one place Sending confirmations, reminders, and follow-ups Booking meetings & calls Scheduling your social media Building chatbots Using AI to answer common messages A CRM can even show you what’s working, what’s not, and gives you the data you need to grow. One tool. One login. Huge time – and money - savings. There are hundreds of CRM tools out there to choose from – I can recommend you check out Keap, Capsule, HubSpot, as I have personal experience or recommendations of all these. And, in case you’re interested, we’ve just launched our own CRM: Book That In AutoMate. It does all the above and more. If you downloaded my guide on creating a Custom GPT above, that was all handled in AutoMate – the form, the delivery of the guide by email, the notification by SMS, AND the follow up through WhatsApp. It’s a simple automation, but demonstrates to effectiveness of a CRM system pretty well – I recommend you try it out.   4. AI Agents: Tiny Workers, Big Potential So, what’s the difference between a Custom GPT and an AI Agent? A Custom GPT is like a specialist assistant. You tell it what to do, and it does that one thing very well. An AI Agent is more like a junior team member. It thinks for itself, plans its next steps, and can do multiple tasks in a row. For example: * You say,"Write a blog post, upload it to my website, then post about it on LinkedIn." * An AI Agent will plan the steps, generate the content, login to your site, publish the post, write a social post in your tone, and post it to your account. It’s early days – and sometimes they still get stuck. But this changes everything. Because suddenly, the AI isn’t just helping you do tasks. It’s doing them for you. On autopilot. Check out this video from ChatGPT which introduces you to their new Agent tool. Final Thought: Play. Tinker. Try Something. You don’t need to overhaul your business overnight. Just start somewhere. Build one GPT. Create one image. Write one email using AI. And always – always – add your human magic on top. Because your greatest USP isn’t your pricing or your programme or your mascot (even if they can surf). It’s you. Till next time, Tim   About The Author Tim Freed is the Co-Founder of both Toddle About  and  Book That In . Having built and managed a 50-strong team of door-to-door sales people in his early 20s, he joined the corporate world and built a multi-million pound recruitment team. Then Tim turned to entrepreneurship - founding Toddle About in 2010, which is now a thriving franchise business. He went on to launch Book That In in 2017 with his business partner, Alec Wadey, which is now one of the fastest growing online booking systems in the UK. Tim is always learning and striving to improve and loves nothing more than sharing his hard-won knowledge and experience in sales, marketing, leadership and entrepreneurship with other business owners to help them on their own journeys. https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2025/august/21/how-children-s-activity-providers-can-use-ai-to-save-time-and-grow-faster/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2025/august/21/how-children-s-activity-providers-can-use-ai-to-save-time-and-grow-faster/ Thu, 21 August 2025 13:02:29 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2025/may/22/the-impact-of-a-perspective-pivot/ Saturday morning started like any other - which is to say, with a plan. A lovely plan, in fact. My wife was taking the kids out to support their football coach, who was (as you do) running two marathons in two days to raise money for one of his students - a young lad with cancer, facing a mountain no one should have to climb. The kids were excited. They planned to run the first couple of miles with him. There’d be t-shirts with his face on. Community spirit. That sort of thing. And me? I was staying at home. I had my day mapped out beautifully. Silence. Coffee. A list of tasks that I could actually tick off without interruption - and if you're also a parent running a business, you’ll know how precious that is! Then… plot twist. “My throat’s really sore,” said my wife, with the sad look of someone who’s weighing up the relative merits of Lemsip & rest vs. seeing friends. “I don’t think I should go.” My reaction: disappointment. I didn’t want to go. My mind did that thing it sometimes does - you know, when it thinks emotionally, but disguises it as logic? “I’ll have to stand in the cold.” “I’ll end up making awkward small talk with parents I don’t really know.” “I won’t get anything done.” Essentially, I sulked. (Quietly - outwardly I was very understanding, obviously.) But over the next half hour, something shifted. As I helped the kids get ready and spent time around their buzz and excitement, I started to think… hang on. This is a good thing. I don’t usually get to be part of moments like this. I miss out on a lot of their little adventures because of work. And this one? It’s not just some random outing. This is about showing up for someone doing something extraordinary. About community. And courage. It will be great to be a part of this. Also, let’s face it - the cold air might do me good. The facts about the situation hadn’t changed. But the way I looked at it had. That’s the power of perspective. Of course, the irony is that - just as I was about to step out the door - my wife decided she was feeling up to it after all. She wanted to see her friends. The colour had returned to her cheeks. And suddenly, I was off the hook. But by that point, I was disappointed again . Because I’d gone from dreading the idea to actually wanting to go. And that got me thinking about how often we do this in business - and in life. We tell ourselves stories. All the time. “This task is boring.” “This client is difficult.” “This campaign isn’t working.” “This sales call is going to be awkward.” But what if we’re just looking at it the wrong way? What if, instead of dreading the admin, we see it as an opportunity to bring order to chaos? What if, instead of resenting a quiet month, we treat it as a chance to sharpen our offer, refresh our brand, or (dare I say it) rest? What if we could flick a switch in our brains and see things from another angle? Because here’s the thing: perspective shapes your experience . And experience shapes your energy. And energy… well, that determines everything. Even in business. And nowhere is perspective more powerful than in sales. I know, I know. Us Brits don’t like selling. When I was a door-to-door bookseller in America (yep, really), a friend back home once said, “I’d hate that job. You just get people to buy stuff that they don’t want.” That stung. I was actually really offended. (That emotional response again!) Because that was 100% NOT what I did. As far as I was concerned, I was helping families with their kids’ education. You see, we sold educational books. When I met with families, I listened. I asked questions. I learned what they needed. Then I showed them how our books could help with that. I was providing a valuable service and helping people. At least, that was my perspective . And it was a much more helpful perspective – one that made me more successful because it gave my work purpose and tied in with my values.  Because nothing gives me greater joy than helping other people. (Sorry, I know that’s cheesy, but it’s true! And I suspect it’s probably true for you too). Same facts: Different perspective.... Different reality. So here’s my challenge to you: Next time you find yourself grumbling about a change of plan… Next time you’re avoiding a task, or dreading a meeting, or doubting your offer… Stop. Breathe. And choose a new lens. Because the story you’re telling yourself might not be the only one. Or even the most helpful one. And a small shift in perspective? Well… it might just change your day. Or your business. Or your life. Till next time, Tim   About The Author Tim Freed is the Co-Founder of both Toddle About and Book That In . Having built and managed a 50-strong team of door-to-door sales people in his early 20s, he joined the corporate world and built a multi-million pound recruitment team. Then Tim turned to entrepreneurship - founding Toddle About in 2010, which is now a thriving franchise business. He went on to launch Book That In in 2017 with his business partner, Alec Wadey, which is now one of the fastest growing online booking systems in the UK. Tim is always learning and striving to improve and loves nothing more than sharing his hard-won knowledge and experience in sales, marketing, leadership and entrepreneurship with other business owners to help them on their own journeys. https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2025/may/22/the-impact-of-a-perspective-pivot/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2025/may/22/the-impact-of-a-perspective-pivot/ Thu, 22 May 2025 08:48:04 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2025/may/07/the-power-of-personal-a-marketing-lesson-from-my-letterbox/ Yesterday morning, something very strange happened. I got a letter. You can see it here. I know, I know – I'm probably not doing my social standing any favours by claiming this is exciting. But seriously… it massively caught my attention. It had my name and address written by hand on the front. In actual pen. On actual paper. And I didn't recognise the handwriting. It wasn’t a bill. It wasn’t a takeaway menu. It wasn’t a flyer trying to sell me a conservatory. Nope – in fact, it was quite sturdy. It felt like it might be a birthday card. Which was odd, because it wasn't my birthday. Nor was it any other notable occasion. Unless you count "Wednesday" – and, frankly, I don’t. So there I was, holding this mysterious envelope, with my curiosity properly piqued. I mean, who had sent me this? And why ? Inside was a nicely printed postcard – which, I'll admit, it was a slight disappointment.  BUT what caught my eye, again, was my name - handwritten on the postcard. The postcard was inviting me to check out a new local office space. Flexible contracts, superfast WiFi, and – crucially – with cleaners. And you know what? I will check them out. Because they nailed it. It wasn't an amazing postcard. Certainly not perfect. But they thought about who their perfect customer was, and they got their messaging spot on. Then they sent it to the right people - I am definitely interested to know more. So it felt like they really did want to reach me . It felt personal. They didn’t spam me with another AI-generated email about "synergistic workspace solutions for the hybrid entrepreneur" (ugh). They wrote my name. In pen. On paper. And popped it through my door. And that, in today's digital age, is marketing gold. Not because it’s flashy or clever or uses some revolutionary growth hack. But because it felt personal. It felt human. It got my attention. And in a world where most people are letting robots do their talking, that’s powerful stuff. Now, let’s bring this back to you . As you're reading this, you are most likely a small family business, selling your services or products to other families... you’re in the business of people . You already have what so many big brands are desperately trying to fake: real human connection. So here’s a thought. What could you do to bring a little bit of that real-world, personal magic into your marketing? Maybe it’s a handwritten thank you card to a loyal customer. A little postcard with a note offering a free trial to those parents who enquired last month, but never booked. A little gift that says, “Hey Sarah, we thought of you.” It doesn’t have to be expensive. It doesn’t have to be perfect. But it does have to be human. Because in an increasingly digital, AI-written, swipe-left world… the old-fashioned, real-life stuff just might be the freshest move you can make. Till next time, Tim   About The Author Tim Freed is the Co-Founder of both Toddle About and Book That In . Having built and managed a 50-strong team of door-to-door sales people in his early 20s, he joined the corporate world and built a multi-million pound recruitment team. Then Tim turned to entrepreneurship - founding Toddle About in 2010, which is now a thriving franchise business. He went on to launch Book That In in 2017 with his business partner, Alec Wadey, which is now one of the fastest growing online booking systems in the UK. Tim is always learning and striving to improve and loves nothing more than sharing his hard-won knowledge and experience in sales, marketing, leadership and entrepreneurship with other business owners to help them on their own journeys. https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2025/may/07/the-power-of-personal-a-marketing-lesson-from-my-letterbox/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2025/may/07/the-power-of-personal-a-marketing-lesson-from-my-letterbox/ Wed, 07 May 2025 17:51:07 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2024/october/29/unlock-the-hidden-power-of-awards-for-business-growth/ When you think of business awards, you might picture a trophy or a one-night celebration. But what if awards could be a key to unlocking year-round marketing benefits, credibility boosts, and valuable networking opportunities? In our latest Business Growth Workshop, we teamed up with Emma Hewitt, an experienced Business Awards Advisor, who shared a roadmap to leveraging awards as a business growth tool. Access Recording Here Here’s a sneak peek at what you’ll discover in the workshop recording: > How to choose the right awards : Not every award is created equal! Emma breaks down how to identify awards that align with your specific business goals, whether it’s brand visibility, local recognition, or industry credibility. > The surprising value of nominations : Even before winning, nominations can open doors and enhance your credibility. Learn how Emma recommends turning a nomination or finalist status into a credibility boost for your brand. > Avoiding common pitfalls : Beware of pay-to-win schemes and awards with vague judging criteria. Emma shares the key red flags to look out for so you can focus on quality awards that offer real value. Ready to make awards a cornerstone of your growth strategy? Access the recording and summary sheet here to access Emma’s full workshop and start leveraging awards as a marketing tool that works year-round. Access Recording Here   Ready to Transform Your Business? This workshop is packed with insights that can have a direct impact on your business, no matter the size or industry. If you want to dive deeper into these strategies and see exactly how to apply them to your business, we’ve made the full workshop recording and slides available for you! ➡️ Sign up here to access the full recording and download the slides for a detailed breakdown of each strategy, complete with practical tips you can implement right away. Access the recordings from any of our Business Growth Workshops below: https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2024/october/29/unlock-the-hidden-power-of-awards-for-business-growth/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2024/october/29/unlock-the-hidden-power-of-awards-for-business-growth/ Tue, 29 October 2024 10:38:05 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2024/may/30/add-to-your-listing/ We're   super-excited   to announce that you can now start collecting reviews on your listing directly via Toddle About! This is a fantastic opportunity for you - if you take a little bit of action. Now more than ever, people will check out reviews before they buy   anything. Which is why   your Toddle About listing   displays reviews and a star rating - to help you get more customers. But you need to ask for them. And it's really easy - simply send them a link to your listing and ask them nicely to leave a good review :-).   This is how they enhance a listing in the search results:   Why This is Important Reviews Drive More Business. Having some reviews on your listing makes it stand out and reassures parents that it's a good idea to get in touch and make a purchase. Parents can read all your reviews on your listing in more detail. See an example of reviews here. And There's More! EXTRA Promotion for our "Top of The Tots" All the top ranking listings on Toddle About will get a special   "Top of The Tots" badge   (see above!) that they can display on their website and social media. PLUS, in every issue of the   Toddle About magazine   we will be dedicating a whole page to the businesses and groups in the local area with the top ranking reviews. It will look a bit like this: You don't need to pay anything to be featured on this page - though the value here is  IMMENSE  - you just need to be one of the top rated listings on the Toddle About website in one of our magazine areas.   How to Get Reviews on Your Listing There are 2 ways to get reviews on your listing: 1. Get a Free Listing Before you can get any reviews, you need to have a listing on the Toddle About website. Luckily, it's free and quick to do. Find out more and add your listing here .  2. Ask for them! Your customers can easily and quickly add a review to your listing. Simply share your link with them via email and social media and ask them to click   'Leave a Review': 2. Link Up Your Trustist Account If you use   Trustist   to collect your reviews, let us know and we will contact them to get your reviews linked up to your Toddle About listing.   If you have any questions, just ask! Tim Freed PS.   I   strongly   encourage you to get some reviews on your listing. It makes a HUGE difference to the strength of your brand and the number of enquiries you'll get. https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2024/may/30/add-to-your-listing/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2024/may/30/add-to-your-listing/ Thu, 30 May 2024 07:37:42 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2024/march/20/marketing-lessons-from-the-m6/ At the weekend, I was driving down the M6, returning from a very fun wedding near Blackpool. Gone are the days of a wedding every other weekend at our age, and children weren't invited, so this was a particularly exciting chance for Mrs F and me to let our hair down. But I'm not writing about the wedding itself today. Instead, I need to share something that I saw on the journey home. You know those billboard-style adverts that are plastered across the side of trucks at the side of the motorway? Well, I don't normally pay them much attention, but one really grabbed my attention on Saturday. It simply said, "Have a really nice day". My brain jolted. My thought process rapidly shifted from, "What a delightful message!" to "Who's saying this?" and finally to, "But why say this at all?" Below the friendly message was the logo for "Radiator Outlet". It’s not a brand I was familiar with, and the marketing geek in me silently congratulated them for grabbing my attention. But what happened next was the real genius of their strategy. As we drove on and on and on down the M6, we passed perhaps another 6 lorries parked at the side of the motorway, each one simply plastered with the 'Radiator Outlet' logo in massive text. I kept seeing them. Over and over. And they were now impossible to ignore. Their brand is now totally stuck in my head - at least for the time being. Unfortunately for them, I don't need to buy a radiator right now... I don't know about you, but it's a pretty infrequent purchase in our house... but that isn't really the point. If I WAS on the market for a radiator, I'd definitely be checking them out. And there are over 100,000 cars driving past those billboards every DAY. Some of those people WILL want radiators - either now, or soon - and the numbers will play out for them. So how does this relate to you? Well, I'm not saying you should go out and put billboard posters up on the M6. Rather, I'm asking you to notice what made the Radiator Outlet campaign effective: namely, repetition . Yes, they grabbed my attention with a clever ad at the beginning, and getting people's attention is critical . But if they'd just run one advert, I wouldn't have remembered who they are. Because they repeated their advert all down the M6, I really do remember them now. But the power of this is more than their brand just being stuck in my head. You see, studies have shown that repeated exposure to a brand creates familiarity. And familiarity leads to TRUST. It's a psychological shortcut – we're more likely to trust (and ultimately spend our hard-earned cash with) brands we recognise, even if we have no other reason to trust them. Tips for effective marketing repetition So, the next time you're brainstorming a marketing campaign, remember Radiator Outlet! Don't settle for being a one-hit wonder; aim for a consistent presence that makes your brand a familiar, trusted friend in the minds of your audience. Here are some things to consider: Be where your target audience is hanging out The motorway roadside might be good for you too – but it probably won’t be the right place for you. Think about where your ideal customer is hanging out: online, in person, and what they are reading. Then advertise there. Maximise your discounts Most advertising media will provide discounts if you book in and commit for a longer duration, so take advantage of this. For example, at Toddle About, we give a 20% discount for annual advert bookings. Keep your message, styling and Call To Action consistent Each time people see your message, it needs to be consistent to encourage familiarity and trust. So make sure the design, styling, messaging and call to action all match. Overall, remember that being the memorable brand can make all the difference.  Till next time, Tim https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2024/march/20/marketing-lessons-from-the-m6/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2024/march/20/marketing-lessons-from-the-m6/ Wed, 20 March 2024 15:08:10 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2024/march/06/free-trials-friend-or-foe-why-they-might-be-the-secret-weapon-your-business-needs/ How Trials Can Drive Business Growth (and How to Make Them Work) You don’t need me to tell you this - but in today's world of savvy shoppers who are bombarded with near-constant marketing messages, convincing someone to part with their hard-earned cash is no easy feat. They're bombarded with choices, and they can find a dozen alternatives to your product or service at the click of a button. So how do you cut through the noise and convince them to take a chance on you? One powerful way is by offering trials. Now, I know what you might be thinking: “Trials attract ‘freebie hunters’. They don’t bring in the right kind of prospect”. "I can’t afford to give away my product/service for free”. “If I offer a trial, all the prospects who would’ve paid the full price will go for the trial instead and I’ll make less money". These are totally valid concerns, and I promise you, I understand them. BUT I’ve come to believe very strongly that, in most cases, these are limiting beliefs that could be stunting the growth of your business. In fact, I believe that implementing trials properly can be a game-changer for many businesses, helping you to grow quickly. Here's why: Trials get more people into your ‘Funnel’ People are hesitant to invest their hard-earned cash in something they don't know or understand. Trials allow potential customers to experience your product or service first-hand, alleviating their anxieties and building trust in your brand. In short, they reduce the ‘risk’ to your prospects, thereby encouraging more to sign up. Increased conversions Trials are the best form of lead magnet, because they are laser-targeted at potential customers who are genuinely interested in what you offer. It doesn’t really matter if they were intending to cancel after the trial period – they want what you have to offer so, if you wow them and the price is right , they’ll sign up for more (or they won’t cancel). Simply by getting more people to try you out, you WILL get more paying customers. Reduced customer acquisition costs Without a trial (or similar) offer, fewer people will sign up after seeing your marketing efforts, and your cost of getting a customer will be higher. Let’s look at a hypothetical example: Without Trials: If you spend £100 on an advert and attract 2 customers, each customer has cost you £50. With Trials: If you spend £100 on advert and attract 10 free trials, and 50% of those convert, then you have 5 new customers, who cost £20 each. You now have more money in the coffers so you could, if you chose, scale up your marketing. By which I mean you could spend £200 on marketing and get 10 new customers next time. You can now GROW. What if my trials DON’T convert? Don’t panic. This will feel like a calamity – but it isn’t. This is an opportunity to learn. If trials don’t convert, then that is a signal to you that something needs to change. It is a fact that, if people like you, and they like your product, and the price is right – they WILL buy. So, if they aren’t signing up, then maybe you need to work harder at building a relationship with your customers. Or maybe you need to adjust your offering to better match your customers’ needs and desires. Or maybe you’re just too expensive for this demographic and you need to find a way to reach people with deeper pockets. Whatever the reason, trials will speed up your learning curve as you will have more data to analyse, more quickly. Keep tweaking and testing until you get it right!   Making Your Trials Work: A Practical Guide So, you're convinced that trials are worth exploring. But how do you ensure they work effectively for your business? Here are some key considerations: * Define your target audience: Who is your ideal customer? Make sure you’re promoting your trial to the right people, or you’ll attract the wrong kind of customer who will be hard to convert. Find out where those ideal customers ‘hang out’ (that might be virtually or physically – think websites, social media, magazines, cafes, leisure centres, family days out etc), and start your marketing there. * Choose the right trial type: There are different types of trials, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Here are 3 common options: * Free trials:  These offer full access to your product or service for a limited time. They can be effective in generating leads and conversions but come with the risk of attracting "freebie hunters”. e.g. Free trial classes for activities or free tastings at supermarkets. * Freemium models:  Typically used with subscription-model businesses, these offer a limited version of your product or service for free (often indefinitely), with the option to upgrade to a paid plan for additional features. This can be a good way to attract a wider audience and showcase the value proposition of your premium features. e.g. The free listings we offer on the Toddle About website. * Paid trials:  These require users to pay a discounted fee to access the full functionality of your product or service for a limited time. This can be an effective way to deter "freebie hunters" whilst still offering potential customers the opportunity to experience the full value of your offering at minimum risk. They can also work better where there is a hard cost to the business when providing the trial, ensuring the business doesn’t lose money on the trial.   Follow-Up: The Key to Conversion The single most overlooked reason that trials fail to convert is lack of effective follow up. It is not your customer’s job to remember to spend their money with you – it’s your job to remind them! So, after the trial ends, don't simply abandon your trialists. In fact, stay in touch with them until they either sign up, or unsubscribe. You can’t know when the time will be right for your customer to sign up properly, but if you don’t stay in touch then it’s highly likely that they will forget about you when the time comes. Ideas for staying in touch: * Send them a series of personalised follow-up emails. * Drop them a text message to ask if they enjoyed their trial. * Ask them to complete a survey. * Send them a thank you card or other gift in the post. * Connect with them on social media (different apps will suit different businesses). * Send them a personal video via email, WhatsApp or LinkedIn. When you contact them during follow up, please don’t just send sales messages asking them to buy/upgrade/sign up… yes, you need to give them the information they need to sign up, but you should sell softly. Your goal during follow up is to build a relationship with your prospect – if they like and trust you, then it’s highly likely that a sale will follow if you can give them what they want and need. Here are some suggestions of things to share: Information about your journey and your ethos/values (don’t be afraid to get personal) Stories or case studies about happy customers Great PR or amazing testimonials Ask for feedback Share your news Improvements and updates to your offering Flash sales and discounts Valuable content they will appreciate. You can (and should) sprinkle sales messages into your follow up – but they shouldn’t be the only kind of message you send out. It can be daunting, and you won’t get it right first time, but whatever you do: stay in touch.   Additional Tips for Successful Trials: * Make it easy to sign up:  The signup process for your trial should be frictionless and user-friendly. Avoid requiring customers to create lengthy accounts or jump through hoops before they can experience your product or service. * Provide excellent customer support:  During the trial period, be readily available to answer questions and address any concerns they might have. This will help ensure a positive trial experience and increase the likelihood of conversion. * Track and analyse your results – then adjust:  Continuously monitor your trial data to understand its effectiveness. Analyse key metrics like conversion rates, engagement, and customer feedback to identify areas for improvement and optimise your trial offering for better results.   When NOT to Use Trials I know I’ve been banging the drum here in favour of using trials in your business – and I do believe they work wonders for most businesses. But there are some exceptions.   Situations where Trials might not be appropriate: Perhaps it goes without saying, but if you’re at full capacity and you won’t be able, or don’t want, to bring in more customers, then don’t run trials. If you sell a product or service that is a ‘one off’ or ‘impulse purchase’, you probably don’t need trials in the sense we are discussing here – but finding a way for your prospects to still ‘try before they buy’ will still benefit you. If the cost to your customers is low enough to not be a ‘risk’ to them if they, you probably don’t need trials – you will just be needlessly extending the sales process by implementing them.   Give us a try with OUR free trials! If you’re interested in giving trials a go, then you will need to promote them - and Toddle About gives you an amazing way to reach parents with children aged 0 – 5. You can get started with our very own free trial with a free listing on the Toddle About website . If you run classes or events, our activity booking app, Book That In, has built-in trial functionality to make the whole process of selling and following up with trials easy. And you can use Book That In for free for as long as you want! You only start paying when you take payments through the system. I hope you’ve found this article helpful – as ever, I am keen to hear your thoughts and feedback, so please do share them. To your success, Tim   About The Author Tim Freed is the Co-Founder of both Toddle About and Book That In . Having built and managed a 50-strong team of door-to-door sales people in his early 20s, before joining the corporate world and building a multi-million pound recruitment team, Tim turned to entrepreneurship - founding Toddle About in 2010, which is now a thriving franchise business. He went on to launch Book That In in 2017 with his business partner, Alec Wadey, which is now one of the fastest growing online booking systems in the UK. Tim is always learning and striving to improve and loves nothing more than sharing his hard-won knowledge and experience in sales, marketing, leadership and entrepreneurship with other business owners to help them on their own journeys. https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2024/march/06/free-trials-friend-or-foe-why-they-might-be-the-secret-weapon-your-business-needs/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2024/march/06/free-trials-friend-or-foe-why-they-might-be-the-secret-weapon-your-business-needs/ Wed, 06 March 2024 09:06:01 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2024/february/22/how-not-to-use-ai-in-your-marketing/ We need to talk about AI. It’s no longer just a buzzword, but a practical tool in our everyday lives – but so many business owners are using it poorly. And it is hurting their marketing efforts and their brand as a result. And that presents you with an opportunity to stand out from the crowd. Now, don’t get me wrong – I’m loving AI (for now, anyway, before it rises up and takes over the world…!) Over the last 12 months, I have been fully embracing the possibilities of AI to help me save time and money and achieve more in my day. I’ve even used AI to help me craft this very article! But the key here is that it “helped” me. I didn’t get AI to write an article, which I then copied and pasted online for you to read. I saw a piece of marketing that did just that the other day, when it popped through my letterbox. It was an A4, double-sided flyer called ‘The Bugbrooke Property Update’ from a local estate agent. In principle, it was a great marketing idea. Done properly, it would've provided some useful content to the estate agent's target audience, demonstrated their expertise, raised their profile and established them as the ‘go to person’ in their field. But this wasn’t done properly – because they had leaned far too heavily on Chat GPT to write the article for them. You see, if you don’t give it enough direction and information, Generative AI like Chat GPT will churn out generic marketing copy in its own distinctive style which, in my opinion, isn’t great. To be fair, the first time I used it, I thought it was mind-blowingly good copy… it was just amazing what it could do! But, after using it a few times, I realised that its voice, style and tone were always the same and the copy it wrote simply wasn't suitable for using in real marketing. And if you use AI-generated copy like that, you have no discernible voice. You won't connect. You will be the same as everyone else - or worse, you will sound like a robot. One distinctive feature of Chat GPT’s ‘default’ language, is that it is very over the top and flowery. That’s how I knew instantly that my friendly neighbourhood estate agent had used Chat GPT to write her copy for her. It said things like: "Each corner of Bugbrooke holds a story, waiting to be discovered." And, "Bugbrooke offers a sanctuary for the soul amidst the hustle and bustle of modern life." I mean, I like living in Bugbrooke, but really?! This is ridiculous. And if you think I’m being overly picky about this, think again - my 13-year-old son was rolling around with laughter as he read the flyer. The things it said about our village were just silly and over the top, and even he could tell that it had been written by Chat GPT. He’s 13 . Having your prospective customers laugh with you is great – but having them laugh at you… not so much. I do want to give credit where it's due, though – because I feel a bit bad about tearing this piece of marketing to shreds, and there were definitely some good things about it. First off, she has created a piece of marketing material and distributed it. Surprisingly, that’s more than many business owners attempt – so hats off to her for just doing it . In addition, it was highly targeted to our village (the reader); she’d included photos of houses she had sold to provide proof of expertise and establish trust; and there was a compelling (if mistyped) ‘Call to Action’ with a QR code to make it easy for the reader to follow through. And her flyer did stand out, albeit for reasons she might not have intended. It sparked conversations and, undeniably, made her memorable among her competition. She will definitely get more enquiries from this piece of marketing than if she’d never sent it out. However, I want to underline the critical misstep she made in using AI for marketing, so that you don’t make it too: good marketing brings YOU to the reader. Your beliefs, your values – your personality. In the end, YOU are the best USP that your business offers and your marketing needs to be authentic to YOU in order for you to capitalise on that. Please remember though, I’m not saying ‘Don’t use AI’. I AM saying, ‘Use it correctly’. The content generated by AI needs to be scrutinised, edited, and aligned with your overall tone and style, and that of your brand. I use Generative AI as a starting point for writing my copy – because I find that getting started is the hardest part. And AI is good at providing ideas and structure for sales copy… it’s just not good at being YOU (thank goodness!) With that said, here are my tips for using AI in your marketing: Craft Detailed, Specific Prompts The prompt you give to the AI will determine your results. And the more detailed and specific your prompt is, the more tailored and effective the output will be. So tell the AI who you are, what your values are, who your audience is and what your goals are; give it as much detail as possible regarding what you want to include in the copy, and it will provide something much more personalised for you. (To give you an idea, the prompt I used when writing this article was over 500 words!) Edit and Personalise AI-Generated Content AI can draft a great starting point for you, but that’s all it is: a starting point. It's up to you to bring the human touch and add your personality. You must edit and re-write the content to ensure it resonates with your voice, your opinions, your experiences, and your audience's expectations. (This article has VERY little in common with the first version that Chat GPT provided to me – but without its help, the article may never have been written). Align Content with Your Marketing Objectives Ensure that the AI-generated content serves the purpose of your marketing piece. For example, if it's a property update, the focus should be on providing valuable and relevant information about the property market - not just singing praises of the locality. Embrace the Human Element  Remember, AI lacks the personal experiences and emotions that come with being a human on this planet. Inject your unique insights and personal anecdotes to make the content more relatable. More than anything, be authentic . Ask AI to Review Your Edited Article This is a smart final step, as AI like Chat GPT is good at analysing copy and providing insights that you might miss on your own (it’s hard to edit something that you have written yourself). You can copy and paste this prompt to do this bit: “Thanks - I have re-written your article. Please can you review the edited version (pasted below) and provide me with a critique? In particular, I would like to know: If there are any typos, grammatical errors, or odd bits of phrasing What you think the goal of this article is and whether it achieves this goal Any specific elements you would recommend I change, and to what you would change them." AI is such a powerful ally – I really encourage you to embrace its potential if you’re not doing so already. But it needs to be used wisely. AI should be seen as a tool in your marketing arsenal, not a replacement for the human creativity, insight, and personal touch that only you can bring. Remember, you are your business’ best asset. You need to bring YOU to your marketing – and only you can do that. Till next time, Tim   About The Author Tim Freed is the Co-Founder of both Toddle About and Book That In . Having built and managed a 50-strong team of door-to-door sales people in his early 20s, before joining the corporate world and building a multi-million pound recruitment team, Tim turned to entrepreneurship - founding Toddle About in 2010, which is now a thriving franchise business. He went on to launch Book That In in 2017 with his business partner, Alec Wadey, which is now one of the fastest growing online booking systems in the UK. Tim is always learning and striving to improve and loves nothing more than sharing his hard-won knowledge and experience in sales, marketing, leadership and entrepreneurship with other business owners to help them on their own journeys. https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2024/february/22/how-not-to-use-ai-in-your-marketing/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2024/february/22/how-not-to-use-ai-in-your-marketing/ Thu, 22 February 2024 10:51:45 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/october/27/revolutionary-tactics-for-business-success/ A couple of weeks ago, I met with my new coach for the first time. I haven’t had a proper, real coach before, and I was ready for them to blow me away with secret tips and revolutionary tactics that were going to transform my life. And I do genuinely believe that what we went through will absolutely transform my business and my life for the better. But it wasn’t anything secret. Far from it. Instead, I was reminded of the foundational principles of success. In fact, the main thing we did was to set goals . Mind blowing! 🤯 Needless to say, this wasn't the kind of ninja success hack I had been hoping for... After all, we all know that we need to have SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound) goals, right? But let me ask you – honestly – do you have them? Written down? If not, don’t beat yourself up – you’re not alone. In fact, about 75% of business owners don’t have clear goals or a defined strategy for achieving them. Which, in itself, hopefully demonstrates to you that you have an amazing opportunity here – this is such a simple thing that you can do right now that will put you light years ahead of most of your competitors! And NOW really is the best time to be setting your goals for next year. I know - thinking about 2024 when it's not even November sounds about as much a priority as alphabetising your sock drawer – but if you wait until January to do this, your chances of achieving your goals will be vastly reduced. So, if you fancy making 2024 your best year yet by a country mile, here is a simple, 3-step process for setting impactful goals:   Step 1: Define Your Big Goal Decide on the one big accomplishment you want to achieve in 2024. This will be your North Star for the year. For business owners, this is usually a revenue or profit goal. But it could also be hitting a milestone like launching a new product, opening a second location, hiring your 10th employee, or doubling your email list. The key is choosing a single, measurable, and meaningful goal to focus on.   Step 2: Identify Your Key Numbers Figure out the 3-4 key metrics that will get you to your big goal. For a revenue goal, this might be: Number of new customers Average sale amount Number of sales per customer Attrition Rate Let's look at an example: Say your goal is £100,000 in revenue for 2024. Looking at your numbers, you see your average sale is £100. So you need 1,000 sales to hit £100k. But what if you could increase your average sale to £150? Now you only need 667 sales to hit your goal. Much more achievable!   Step 3: Break it Down Take your key numbers and break them into monthly, weekly, or even daily targets. Continuing our example: 667 sales per year = 56 sales per month = 14 sales per week = 2 sales per day. Suddenly your big annual goal doesn’t seem so tricky! And you know if you are on track to hit your goals each and every day… you don’t need to wait until the end of the month or the quarter to find out. The stress is lifted.   And that's it - 3 simple steps to get clear on your 2024 goals now so you can hit the ground running in January. Of course, we still have to figure out the "how" - the strategies, tools, and plans to actually make it happen. Though I bet your brain is already working on that, isn’t it? It’s amazing what happens when you get real clarity on what you want. Next week, I’m going to share more tips to help with the ‘How’ – but for now, please  do this exercise . Write out your goal, pin it up where you can see it every day, and let your subconscious brain work on it for you. Let me know how it goes or if you have any questions! Tim   About The Author Tim Freed is the Co-Founder of both Toddle About and Book That In . Having built and managed a 50-strong team of door-to-door sales people in his early 20s, before joining the corporate world and building a multi-million pound recruitment team, Tim turned to entrepreneurship - founding Toddle About in 2010, which is now a thriving franchise business. He went on to launch Book That In in 2017 with his business partner, Alec Wadey, which is now one of the fastest growing online booking systems in the UK. Tim is always learning and striving to improve and loves nothing more than sharing his hard-won knowledge and experience in sales, marketing, leadership and entrepreneurship with other business owners to help them on their own journeys. https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/october/27/revolutionary-tactics-for-business-success/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/october/27/revolutionary-tactics-for-business-success/ Fri, 27 October 2023 13:35:02 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/october/05/zen-and-the-art-of-networking-aka-making-friends/ As a rule, I’m a bit of a home guy. Don’t get me wrong – I love to go on holiday and see new places, but in my day-to-day, it takes quite a lot to get me to drive more than 30 minutes for, well, pretty much anything. I live in a village and if I head into our local town, my team will often quip, ‘Don’t forget your passport!’ So the last couple of weeks have been a bit of an outlier for me, getting up at 6am and heading into London and Birmingham not once, but 3 times for different business events. I used to resent going to these events – after all, they eat into my weekend, which is important family time for me. But recently, this feeling has changed. In fact, a change in perspective means that I find I actually enjoy them! You see, I used to think of networking as a way to promote my business and generate referrals and sales. Urgh. Even typing that feels horrible. What pressure! I was nervous about attending these events. I would rehearse my 60 second pitch. I tried to work the room and get as many business cards as possible. It seems so obvious now... but, as you’ve probably guessed, I rarely got any ‘results’ from this approach. Needless to say, I no longer approach these events in this way. Now I just see them as a way to make new friends. As a way to learn. It’s cheesy, sure, but definitely true. This change has been a natural evolution for me… over time, I’ve attended industry events and met the same people time and again. We’ve chatted and got to know each other. We might not be BFFs, but I enjoy their company and (hopefully!) they feel the same about me. When I see them at an event, the smile that graces my lips is authentic – I’m genuinely happy to see them. We talk about business, of course – because we have that in common. But we chat about everything and anything else too – our kids, home schooling, diet, books, holidays… the whole gambit. In the moment, I don’t have an ulterior motive. I’m not trying to generate sales. I love meeting new people and old friends. I love learning from them, and laughing with them, and generally just being around them. So that’s what I do - I be myself. And you know what? Sales do follow from these relationships – though I wouldn’t mind if they didn’t. After all, I’m having a good time regardless! But, naturally, we recommend each other, because we like each other. It’s what friends do. If I over-think it, then it sounds a bit like some sort of Zen philosophy - you know, like “Let go of that which you want, and it will come to you”… or something like that… But I don’t want to over-think it. The magic will disappear if I do. So there’s no ‘Step by Step Guide to Friendworking’ from me this time. That wouldn’t work. My only advice is this: grab the opportunities you have to meet people, and be yourself when you do. So you have my permission: ditch those rehearsed pitches and business card targets. Just bring your authentic self to the table, and let the universe do the rest. And most of all, have fun! Until next time, Tim   About The Author Tim Freed is the Co-Founder of both Toddle About and Book That In . Having built and managed a 50-strong team of door-to-door sales people in his early 20s, before joining the corporate world and building a multi-million pound recruitment team, Tim turned to entrepreneurship - founding Toddle About in 2010, which is now a thriving franchise business. He went on to launch Book That In in 2017 with his business partner, Alec Wadey, which is now one of the fastest growing online booking systems in the UK. Tim is always learning and striving to improve and loves nothing more than sharing his hard-won knowledge and experience in sales, marketing, leadership and entrepreneurship with other business owners to help them on their own journeys. https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/october/05/zen-and-the-art-of-networking-aka-making-friends/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/october/05/zen-and-the-art-of-networking-aka-making-friends/ Thu, 05 October 2023 15:47:09 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/september/20/why-sales-deadlines-work-and-how-you-can-implement-them/ Last Thursday was the final day for businesses to book an advert in the next issue of the Toddle About magazine. The clock was ticking, the phones were buzzing, and our email inbox was going crazy with bookings. It was hard work, and great fun – but the interesting thing is, most of our clients had known about this deadline for weeks. We didn’t spring it on them. And yet, despite this, a jaw-dropping 29% of them chose this very day, the eleventh hour, to make their move. All in all, a staggering 66% of our new advert bookings were made in the week running up to the deadline. Sound familiar? Whether it's filing taxes, submitting a project, or even doing the laundry, we've all been there. We seem to be addicted to leaving things to the last minute. I wonder if those 66% would have booked at all without the deadline? Honestly, I suspect we'd still be waiting for most of them... So, why do deadlines work?  And, more importantly, how can you as a business owner leverage this human quirk to boost your sales by turning procrastinators into action-takers?   The Science of Urgency: Why Deadlines Work Deadlines are not just arbitrary dates; they are psychological triggers deeply rooted in our cognitive wiring. According to research, the effectiveness of deadlines can be attributed to several psychological phenomena: The Scarcity Principle When something is scarce, we perceive it as more valuable. Deadlines create a sense of scarcity by limiting the time available to make a decision or take action. This triggers our innate fear of missing out (FOMO), compelling us to act before it's too late. Parkinson's Law This law states that "work expands to fill the time available for its completion." In other words, if you have two weeks to complete a task, it will take you two weeks. If you have two days, you'll get it done in two days. Deadlines force us to prioritize and focus, making us more efficient. The Zeigarnik Effect Named after psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik, this effect suggests that people remember uncompleted or interrupted tasks better than completed ones. A deadline serves as a constant reminder of an uncompleted task, keeping it at the forefront of our minds until it's done. The Endowment Effect We tend to overvalue things we own or believe we can own. When a deadline is near, the possibility of "owning" a deal or opportunity feels more real, making us more committed to securing it.   The Deadline Effect in Sales: A Case Study Going back to my Toddle About example - why did 66% of our bookings come in the week leading up to the deadline, and 29% on the last day? It's not just about procrastination, though that’s part of it, for sure; it's about the psychological urgency that a deadline creates. People are more likely to take action when they feel that they are about to lose something valuable—be it a discount, an opportunity, or even a sense of accomplishment.   Implementing Sales Deadlines: Your Action Plan At Toddle About, we’re lucky – deadlines are baked in to how we have to run our business. Want to be in the next magazine? You’ve got to book your advert before we go to print – there’s no way around it. Similarly for events: you can’t book in after it’s happened, or after all the seats have been taken. However, for many businesses, deadlines don’t come naturally and need to be manufactured. So, how can you harness the power of deadlines to boost your sales? Here are some actionable strategies: Limited-Time Offers This is the Black Friday phenomenon: pick an event and create offers that are available for a limited period. Make sure to communicate the scarcity and value clearly. For example, "Get 30% off your first purchase. Offer ends in 48 hours!" Rather than go with big national events like Black Friday though, I urge you to create your own – for your birthday, say. Then tell people it’s coming – build some anticipation so people get the date in their diary too. Use Scarcity Having a limited number of products or spaces available creates its own deadline – often more powerfully than a simple date because your customers don’t know when the cut off will happen. Combine a limited-time offer with scarcity and your customers will be chomping at the bit to make sure they don’t miss out – if you promote it right. Flash Sales These are extreme versions of limited-time offers, usually lasting for just a few hours. Flash sales create a heightened sense of urgency and can drive massive traffic and conversions. Pre-Order Deadlines If you're launching a new product or service, set a pre-order deadline. Limit availability to 'pilot' your new offering, or because you're only producing so many units and you will add scarcity (and FOMO) to the deadline. You could offer special perks or discounts to those who commit before the deadline - creating 'mini-deadlines'. Payment Plans or Membership Programmes with Enrolment Deadlines Offering a payment plan can make your product or service more accessible. Adding an enrolment deadline to this plan can push fence-sitters to take the plunge.   Magic Happens When ‘Do It Later’ Isn’t an Option We've all been there — staring at a ticking clock, heart pounding, as we scramble to meet a deadline. It's stressful, but also exhilarating. That adrenaline rush is not just a random response; it's our body's way of pushing us to act. It's the same rush you feel when you snag the last item on sale, book the last available seat, or get to your meeting just in time. That feeling of "just made it" is incredibly satisfying, and it's a feeling you can offer your customers through well-crafted sales deadlines. So, the next time you're planning a sales strategy, don't underestimate the power of a well-placed deadline. It could be the difference between a customer thinking, "I'll do it later," and them actually doing it now. And in the world of business, "now" is infinitely more valuable than "later."    About The Author Tim Freed is the Co-Founder of both Toddle About and Book That In . Having built and managed a 50-strong team of door-to-door sales people in his early 20s, before joining the corporate world and building a multi-million pound recruitment team, Tim turned to entrepreneurship - founding Toddle About in 2010, which is now a thriving franchise business. He went on to launch Book That In in 2017 with his business partner, Alec Wadey, which is now one of the fastest growing online booking systems in the UK. Tim is always learning and striving to improve and loves nothing more than sharing his hard-won knowledge and experience in sales, marketing, leadership and entrepreneurship with other business owners to help them on their own journeys. https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/september/20/why-sales-deadlines-work-and-how-you-can-implement-them/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/september/20/why-sales-deadlines-work-and-how-you-can-implement-them/ Wed, 20 September 2023 15:45:28 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/august/31/facing-the-storm-the-buffalo-approach-to-marketing-in-a-crisis/ Let's not kid ourselves—times are challenging right now. Consumers are tightening their belts, and businesses, including yours, are selling to a dwindling pool of prospects. But you don’t need to panic - this isn't a harbinger of doom. In every economic downturn, some businesses don't just survive; they thrive. How? It boils down to making some clever choices—choices that make you the buffalo among cows in a storm. Stick with me, because in this article we're diving deep into the dangers and opportunities of marketing in a cost-of-living crisis.   The Pitfall of Cutting Overheads One of the first reflexes of business owners in a crunch is to slash overheads. In principle, there's nothing wrong with that – in fact, it’s a smart thing to do. But problems begin to surface when you cut back on the things that bring in new customers and revenue—such as marketing. It’s easy to see the temptation though. It can be hard to properly track the impact of our marketing – though I think it’s fair to say that, when times are good, we perhaps don’t prioritise tracking the results of our marketing. Either way, it means that most business owners don’t know how well their marketing budget is working for them. So they switch it off to find out. It’s a risky strategy – after all, if you halt marketing and advertising while the number of potential customers is shrinking, there's only one logical outcome, and it's not a good one.   Be a Buffalo, Not a Cow Did you know that when a big storm is coming, cows will turn and run away from it? In contrast, buffalo will face the storm and head into it. The buffalo have the right idea – by heading into the storm, though the wind and rain might sting a little harder, they get through to the sunshine much quicker. The poor cows spend a lot longer being miserable in the cold wind and rain. Most of your competitors are going to be cows. They will cut back or switch off their marketing, and when the storm DOES pass, they will be in a weak position to recover. This opens up a massive opportunity for your business. Simply maintaining your marketing activities already puts you ahead of the curve. But what if you embrace your inner buffalo and actually increase them? Now that's where things can start to get really exciting.   Choose Wisely: Not All Marketing Is Created Equal A word of warning though: it's not enough to just keep the marketing wheels turning – you need to drive them in the right direction. Pouring your funds into ineffective or outdated strategies is just as bad as not marketing at all. Probably worse. The key is to invest in what works—especially when budgets are tight. Even in times of economic downturn, there are cost-effective and highly targeted marketing options that can give you a great ROI (Return On Investment). So instead of taking the gamble of switching off your marketing to see what impact that has – now is the time to track what you are doing properly . There are lots of ways to do this: employ tracking numbers, bespoke landing pages, unique email addresses and/or offer codes in your marketing so you can see what is working. Then make an informed decision about where to spend your precious marketing budget.   The Power of Targeted Marketing: Case in Point If you’re looking for new places to test out, be smart and look for places that target your ideal customer. Let's say you're in a niche industry catering to parents of young children. I just picked that industry out of thin air. Honest 😊 Did you know that a staggering 88% of readers have acted upon an advert in the Toddle About magazine? Not only that, but most of these readers also have disposable income, despite the economic climate. Be smart about where you choose to spend your marketing budget, and you could double or triple your returns.   Your Business's Future Is in Your Hands Ultimately, the trajectory your business takes in these trying times is dependent on you —the choices you make, the courage you have to adapt, and how you navigate changes in customer behaviour. Whether you sink or swim in this storm, whether you merely survive or actually thrive, it's up to you. Be smart. Be bold. And, above all, be a buffalo. Till next time, Tim   About The Author Tim Freed is the Co-Founder of both Toddle About and Book That In . Having built and managed a 50-strong team of door-to-door sales people in his early 20s, before joining the corporate world and building a multi-million pound recruitment team, Tim turned to entrepreneurship - founding Toddle About in 2010, which is now a thriving franchise business. He went on to launch Book That In in 2017 with his business partner, Alec Wadey, which is now one of the fastest growing online booking systems in the UK. Tim is always learning and striving to improve and loves nothing more than sharing his hard-won knowledge and experience in sales, marketing, leadership and entrepreneurship with other business owners to help them on their own journeys. https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/august/31/facing-the-storm-the-buffalo-approach-to-marketing-in-a-crisis/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/august/31/facing-the-storm-the-buffalo-approach-to-marketing-in-a-crisis/ Thu, 31 August 2023 09:56:26 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/august/24/how-to-create-an-army-of-raving-fans/ Lessons in Customer Loyalty from the Just So Festival By Tim Freed, Co-Founder of Toddle About This weekend, I found myself amidst laughter, music, and a sea of animal costumes, attending the Just So Festival . This was our 9th year attending. As families danced, sang, and explored this imaginative outdoor family adventure, I was struck by the fact that so many of the families were serial attendees. As we chatted with others, it turned out that plenty of them had been going for as many years (or more!) as us. And there were thousands of people there. In the midst of a ‘cost of living crisis’, this is no mean feat – especially when a weekend camping ticket for a family of five will set you back over £500. And it got me to thinking… how had they achieved such customer loyalty? Because when you have a core base of ‘raving fans’ like they do, business gets LOADS easier. Not only do they keep coming back for more, but they recommend you to their friends and family. They become loyal ambassadors. It’s a really fun way to grow your business. Fortunately, I believe that each and every one of us can do the same thing in our businesses. In truth, you’re probably well on your way already – because the first step is loving what you do and providing the very best to your customers. Passion and quality speak for themselves, and if you have those then you’ll already have some raving fans. But how do you get an army of them, spreading the word and marketing your business for you?! Here are some of the things that I think Just So Festival do really well – things we can all learn from:   They Have a Clear Audience Niche The Just So Festival knows its audience: families with children aged 0 - 12 years. And it knows them really well. It definitely isn’t trying to appeal to everyone. Everything at the festival is meticulously crafted to appeal to these families. They know that the children need to be entertained well, that the parents want good music, excellent food and drink – and clean toilets. More than anything, they know that there are lots of grownups out there who have a child inside themselves that they want to let out, without fear of judgement or embarrassment. It is specifically these families that they cater for. And by golly, they cater to them in spades.   Be Different. Be Unique. Just So celebrates the arts through a unique blend of literature, theatre, dance, music, comedy, and more. It's really not like any other festival I’ve experienced – it is, as they say, an "adventure like no other." They are unapologetically artistic, whimsical, quirky and different. Sure, there will be people who don’t enjoy their approach. They may feel uncomfortable at being part of an event where the families attending are as much a part of the show, as the performers themselves. But there are plenty who LOVE it. And, once they’ve tasted it, they just want more.   Create a Sense of Belonging I suppose this follows on from getting the first two things right – but at Just So, you're not just a visitor; you're part of a tribe. From choosing a "Carnival Animal", to dressing up and playing along, it feels like you’ve entered an alternate reality – one where you can be yourself (or someone/something else!) without fear of being judged. Because everyone else is doing it too. In fact, you only feel like a weirdo if you’re NOT dressed up in an animal costume and joining in unashamedly! It's this sense of belonging and participation that turns attendees into loyal fans.   Don't Just Copy Now, it’s important to note that we’ll all do this in our own, unique way. You can't be another "Just So Festival". You do you. But, whatever we do, our customers need to feel like they're part of something special, something bigger than themselves. Create a community they want to belong to, and they will keep coming back. Apple do this really well. It isn’t hard to find someone who hates them – but their focus on innovation, built on a foundation of high quality and excellent user experience, has grown a huge base of devoted fans who wouldn’t touch a PC or Android phone with a barge pole. LEGO encourage creativity and even involve fans in the product development process through platforms like ‘ LEGO Ideas ’ to engender a sense of community. Harley-Davidson has grown a cult following by emphasising freedom, individuality, and building a strong community through Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.). There are plenty more examples… think about Disney, Starbucks – even your local restaurant that everyone raves about. You know, the one where the manager knows you by name, where the waiters take the time to provide great recommendations, where you often bump into friends, and where the food is always great. The good news for you and me, is that we can all do this. You don’t need bottomless pits of marketing cash. You just need to know who you want to serve; embrace being different; and give people a tribe. Because we all want to belong. Till next time, Tim https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/august/24/how-to-create-an-army-of-raving-fans/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/august/24/how-to-create-an-army-of-raving-fans/ Thu, 24 August 2023 13:03:44 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/august/17/are-you-holding-yourself-back/ As business owners, we constantly juggle a range of emotions and challenges. Personally, I’ve noticed I have an impressive ability to procrastinate. Sometimes, it’s because I don’t know where to start – or because the task itself is so big, it’s intimidating. But often, I’ve realised, it’s because I’m worried I will screw it up. More importantly – I’m worried other people will see that I’ve screwed up. And they’ll work out that, actually, I’m not as good (or talented/smart/wise/funny etc) as they originally thought. In fact, whatever I do, I’m worried about what other people – what YOU – will think of it. Of me. I’m pretty sure this means I suffer from a ‘fear of failure’. Probably with a dose of ‘Imposter Syndrome’ thrown in for good measure. But I'm also pretty sure I'm not alone in this … that, despite how confident and self-assured everyone else   seems   to be, maybe they - maybe   you   - feel something similar. For me, it means I’m a bit of a perfectionist. A LOT of a perfectionist, in fact. Which I'm pretty sure annoys the hell out of my team. But it also means I procrastinate – I put off doing things that I KNOW will benefit me and my business. Especially if that thing exposes me to other people's judgements... So I have also tended to hide from public scrutiny – to hide behind our brand. Because what if I screw it up? What if you don’t   like   me? I read somewhere that these fears are here to protect us - because, from an evolutionary perspective, we need to be part of a tribe to survive. So we desperately want to be accepted. But they're not really helping us any more - at least, not in business. So it's time to confront them and to master them. Over the past year, I’ve been trying to push past this fear and put myself out there for the world to see. I've written articles for business magazines, I've spoken on stage, and I’ve been sponsoring and attending more industry events. Writing these regular emails is part of that journey. And, you know what? It feels pretty good. Slowly, I’m getting less afraid. When I talk to people and share my knowledge, I see light bulbs flicker on above their heads. The things I take for granted are new insights for others, and I realise – I’m actually pretty good at what I do. I’m getting invited to share my knowledge more and more now… it’s helping others AND it’s helping our business to grow. So... if you’re holding yourself back, I’d like to invite you to join me. Because giving in to these feelings is limiting us – it’s preventing us from helping others and reaching our full potential. I’m not sure if it's possible to banish these feelings entirely – but maybe, with enough practice, we can learn to ignore them. I’m finding that if I shift my focus from ‘doing this for me’ to ‘doing this to help others’ – then it makes it a lot easier. So if you feel the same way – I challenge you to put yourself out there and do something,   anything , that uses your unique perspective and skill-set to help others. Write your own email or blog post. Host a webinar. Volunteer to speak at an event. Record a video. Make that phone call. Offer your assistance. And see what happens. It may be hard, and it may be uncomfortable. But it will be worth it. Till next time, Tim Tim Freed, Co-Founder of Toddle About https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/august/17/are-you-holding-yourself-back/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/august/17/are-you-holding-yourself-back/ Thu, 17 August 2023 14:17:14 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/august/10/the-advert-that-actually-worked/ Picture this: It's a warm, wet evening (yep, still raining!) and I've just settled into my favourite armchair for 5 minutes' rest while the kids read in bed. I'm casually flipping through the latest edition of   'InPublishing'   magazine which arrived in the post earlier that morning, whilst keeping an ear out for over-excited antics on the floor above. I like   InPublishing . For a magazine publisher like me, it keeps me up to date with things that are happening in our industry. Nothing unusual so far. Well, nothing other than the fact I actually managed to   stop   for 5 minutes, anyway. Then it happened. Nestled between articles on industry trends and insights was an advert that didn't just catch my attention—it held it. Then – crucially – I got out my phone and emailed the company. I had taken action because of an advert. The holy – and incredibly elusive – grail of marketing had happened to me! And it made me think –   WHY   had that advert worked on me, when so many others had failed? Like you, I've built up an impressive immunity to advertising. Most adverts flutter past our eyes with little more than a cursory glance, our built-in marketing filters working on overtime to stop us wasting our precious time and attention. So how had this advert got through my (very impressive) natural defences? This was the advert: It’s an advert for the kind of printer that we would use to churn out the pages of the Toddle About magazine. So, first and foremost, they are relevant to me. Not a surprise, I suppose, given that the magazine I’m reading is for publishers. So… Lesson 1: Know where your target audience hangs out and advertise there. But there were lots of other adverts in this magazine to which I hadn’t responded… so it was more than just advertising in the right place. Let’s dig in a bit further… It might be stating the obvious, but it’s a full page advert – so I couldn’t really miss it. So that helped.   Lesson 2: Size does matter (when it comes to advertising!) Now, let’s think about the design - which is where it starts to get really interesting. You see, the layout of the advert isn’t particularly different or amazing. But the   content   is. The advert doesn’t talk about how big their printing press is (like everyone else does). And it doesn’t tell me how amazing their company is (like everyone else does). It just tells me about their Managing Director – Mark. Rather than bombarding me with technical specs or deals, this ad tells me Mark’s story. It paints a portrait of their Managing Director—an everyday individual who has worked his way up to the top. Someone who knows his stuff. This genuine touch resonated. It whispered, "We are people, just like you. And we really know a lot about printing."   Lesson 3: Be authentic. Show who YOU are. Because people connect with people, not faceless brands. And it doesn’t stop there! When it comes to finding out more – or the ‘Call to Action’ as us marketers call it - the advert doesn’t give me their website address, or social media channels. In fact, all it does is give   Mark’s email address . Ordinarily, this would be a bit of a no-no. But in this case, it’s genius. You see, printers are a bit of a commodity in our industry – by which I mean, they’re all very much the same, providing the same service. So, in the end, they can only really compete on price. So I don’t need to see their website. I already know what they do and what it will tell me. Really, I want to know how much they would charge to print my magazines – and emailing them is a great way to do that. But they haven’t just given me an “info@” address, or some salesperson. They’ve given me the   Managing Director’s   email address! It makes me feel like, you know what? Mark actually   cares   about his customers. And as a customer, I   really   want to feel like I’m important to my suppliers. So this worked a treat! Plus, they’ve already told me who Mark is, so I feel I know him a bit, and I feel comfortable emailing him. Maybe they're not the same as all the others, after all...   Lesson 3: Be different to your competition. Show you care. Go the extra mile. Finally – the thing that tipped me over the edge and got me to actually take action, was one line towards the end: The ad tells me that Mark’s focus is   “making Acorn the ‘go to printer’ for A4 and A5 products”. If I had any doubt before that Mark could help me, this eliminated it. It basically told me that they are experts in printing A5 products – and I publish an A5 magazine!   So, Lesson 4: Be clear about the niche you serve and tell everyone what that is. If you try to be everything to everyone, you’ll end up being nothing to no one. Your marketing won’t connect with people, and you’ll be left wondering why your adverts don’t work. So it isn’t just one thing you have to get right for your adverts to work … it’s lots of little things, all combined. I know it’s a bit of a minefield, which is why I’m sharing these thoughts with you. And if you ever want   my   help - just email me! I'd be happy to critique your advert design or brainstorm some ideas. Till next time, Tim PS.   In case you were wondering, I received a reply from Mark the morning after I sent my email. A couple of hours later, one of his account managers called me to discuss our job and, again, made me feel like they really cared and really knew their stuff. I’m currently awaiting their quote, but they’ve really impressed me so far… and I still haven’t looked at their website! https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/august/10/the-advert-that-actually-worked/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/august/10/the-advert-that-actually-worked/ Thu, 10 August 2023 09:06:18 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/august/03/marketing-lesson-from-the-phone-book/ Something rather unexpected popped through my letterbox this week... It was a BT Phone Book! You remember those? It was like seeing an old friend from the 90s. Honestly, I had to double-check the calendar to confirm I hadn’t somehow time travelled. I was totally taken aback because I genuinely believed these chunky directories were extinct! I mean, why on earth would they still be in print? In the Freed household, we got rid of our landline a couple of months ago, and we haven't missed it. I’m pretty sure if you still have one, you rarely use it. And if I needed to contact someone, my first instinct wouldn’t be find their   phone number … even if I had a Phone Book to hand. I’d look for them on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn and contact them there. Would it be different if I were on the hunt for a local business? Nope. I'd be straight on Google. The Phone Book wouldn't even occur to me. So, flipping through the business listings of the Phone Book, I felt a twinge of sadness. It was like seeing hard-earned money fluttering away, thinking of all those businesses investing their marketing budget in something so archaic. But then I realised I was making a pretty stupid assumption… Sure, to the tech-savvy among us, the Phone Book might seem redundant. But there's a demographic out there for whom technology isn't second nature. Many of the 'older generation' won’t be scrolling Instagram or Googling away - for them, the phone book is familiar, perhaps even essential. So - before I tossed it in the recycling - I had a closer look at who was actually advertising in this relic of the past. Sure enough, there was a clear trend: services tailored to older folks. Everything from stairlifts and drain clearances to home maintenance. One that really caught my eye? A full-page ad from a funeral director. Morbid? Maybe. Smart advertising strategy? Absolutely. It got me thinking – just how often do we assume what's best for our business based on our personal preferences? It's so easy to get caught up in our own bubble and forget that our customers might be living in a totally different one. It's crucial that we to step into their shoes. Or in this case, their reading glasses. The Phone Book saga was a gentle reminder for me, and hopefully for you too, about the power of perspective. True, the Phone Book probably won’t be the go-to advertising medium for businesses like ours - but it might not be Facebook or Google either. The whole thing reminded me of a fundamental truth in business:   Always, always think from your customer's perspective. What magazines are they reading? What social media channels are they using? Where do they hang out (physically or digitally)? That's   where you need to be. Till next time, Tim https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/august/03/marketing-lesson-from-the-phone-book/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/august/03/marketing-lesson-from-the-phone-book/ Thu, 03 August 2023 09:56:02 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/june/06/how-to-turn-200-into-7-000/ A few years ago, one of our advertisers wrote to me to tell me that, regretfully, they were going to have to cancel their advert. They just weren’t getting enough responses and bookings to justify their investment. I was gutted. Not because we were losing an advertiser, though that hurt. I was upset because I knew, with certainty, that Toddle About was the right place for her to advertise. She ran a photography business specialising in baby and family photography. Our readers were a PERFECT fit for her business. Other advertisers were getting a great response, so I felt that she should’ve been getting a good response too. She agreed to jump on a call to discuss things, and it quickly became apparent that she instinctively felt the same way. She was a mum, and she herself used the Toddle About magazine, referring to it time and again to find things to do with her little ones. She knew that her friends were doing the same thing. So… If thousands of her ideal prospects were seeing her advert, why weren’t they responding to it? We looked at her advert together, and everything fell into place. This is what it looked like (details have been changed for privacy): Not a bad advert. But not good enough. She was a smart businesswoman, and she agreed to take a chance and have another go. Not only that, but she UPGRADED her advert to a bigger size, and paid for our advert design service to produce something that would work better. This is what we created: Just a couple of weeks after the new advert went out, she wrote to me to say this: “I just wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know that the response from this edition’s advert has been brilliant. Looks like the upgrade has definitely paid off, I have never been busier in January! I'm looking forward to continuing with the slot.” Needless to say, I was delighted. Not only had we turned things around for her, but we had done it January - which was normally the quietest month of the year for her. The question here is: Can you see what we did differently? Could you use the lessons in this advert transformation to improve the responses from your own adverts? Here are the things that we did: We increased the size of her advert As a photographer, she needed to be able to show off to work. She also needed more space to get her message across. And we knew that a bigger advert would attract more eyeballs. We designed a proper logo People need to trust you in order to spend money with you. At a subconscious level, a professional and appropriate logo gives your prospects confidence that you know what you are doing. We picked the right headline She was already using the slogan, “Precious Moments at Affordable Prices” – but it wasn’t the headline. Yet it made a brilliant one. “Precious Moments” connects with the reader on an emotional level, and “At Affordable Prices” answered her key objection (Price) straight away. Rephrased the body copy By changing just a few things in her text, we were able to convey the value she offered to her customers in a much more effective way. Included Social Proof By adding in a testimonial from one of her customers, we provided the reader with social proof. Including testimonials in your advertising is SO powerful because it’s like getting a recommendation from a friend. It isn’t you saying you’re wonderful – it is someone like them . We made it look and feel fun and high quality We took time to choose the right colours and fonts, that would convey her sense of fun, whilst also choosing images that backed that up and demonstrated the quality that she offered. Clever use of ‘white space’ makes the advert easy to read in a way that ‘flows’ nicely.   The Return on Investment This advert cost our advertiser a little over £200. She brought in at least 15 new customers because of it – and most of them didn’t just take the images from their shoot. They bought prints worth hundreds of pounds – spending, on average, about £500 each. That brings her return on investment to over £7,000. And that doesn’t include the additional revenue she would get when those new customers recommended her to their friends. So… is your advert working as hard for you as it could?   Fancy trying your advert design skills on an advert in the Toddle About Magazine? Find out more about advertising options here https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/june/06/how-to-turn-200-into-7-000/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/june/06/how-to-turn-200-into-7-000/ Tue, 06 June 2023 09:41:57 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/may/25/supercharge-your-adverts-techniques-that-get-readers-to-take-action/ We've all been there: Late nights spent crafting what you believe to be the perfect advert, only to have it flop - sinking without a trace into the abyss of indifference. It's frustrating, isn't it? One of the most common pitfalls I’ve noticed most entrepreneurs stumble into when creating their adverts is that they shout, "Hey, we're here!" but fail to provide a compelling reason for people to take action now . If this resonates with you, you're in the right place. The chances are your Call to Action (CTA) might need a bit of TLC. Why? Let's dive in.   Why a Clear and Direct Call to Action (CTA) is Crucial to Advertising Success A well-crafted CTA is the magic wand that transforms a passive ad reader into an active participant. An effective CTA gently nudges the reader to take the next step in your buying process , which, spoiler alert , isn’t always 'buy now'. Unless you sell an impulse purchase item, asking someone to ‘Buy Now’ is a bit like asking someone to marry you after the first date. More often than not, you’re going to have to spend a bit more time building a relationship, demonstrating your expertise, and developing trust. Like that elusive naptime routine, building the relationship and trust that leads to a purchase can take a while (hmmm, I wonder why I’m writing this article?!) But we’re not getting into that today. First, you need to get people into your ‘funnel’. And that’s where an effective Call To Action makes all the difference. But before we get into the CTA itself …   Understanding ‘Return on Investment’ (ROI) in Advertising It may not seem this way, but what I’m asking you to do here may actually be quite a big shift in how you think about advertising. So I want to make sure you get it. When I ask most people why they want to advertise with us, they reply (often with some confusion): “To get more customers”. Which is true. They talk about their ‘Return on Investment’, which is smart – but (and this is a big ‘but’!) what they mean by that is, ‘How much money I will make in direct sales from this advert’. But, as we’ve already established, when it comes to advertising, 'return on investment' isn’t just about immediate sales. In fact, it’s rarely about direct sales (remember the marriage analogy?) Yes, it’s true that you should get some direct sales from a well-crafted advert – but your real ROI will be far greater than that. It will be all the indirect sales you get further down the line. But only if you get your Call To Action right. So… if you’re not asking people to buy from you after reading your advert, then what ARE you asking them to do?   Focussing on CTAs that Collect Prospect Contact Details For most businesses, a successful CTA will be one that allows you to collect the contact details of your prospects. Why? Because then you get to stay in touch and follow up with them! Add them to your email list. Give them a call. Drop them a message on social media. Building trust over time, until they are ready to buy.   Effective CTAs and Why They Work Ideally, you’re looking for a CTA that enables your prospects to take a small step towards your brand – something that gives them a compelling reason to hand over their contact details without committing much of their precious time and resources. Here are some some examples: i) Offer a Free Trial : The magic word here is 'free', but the real trick is the trial. It reassures parents that they can test the waters before committing. A risk-free way to find out if what you offer is right for them. ii) Offer a ‘Tripwire’ Purchase: The only downside with a free Call-To-Action is that you may end up with more time-wasters. A ‘Tripwire Purchase’ is so-called, because you are asking people to pay for something – but the price should be in ‘no-brainer’ territory. So they still have very little to lose. You will get fewer leads from your advert than with a free offering, but the leads you do get will be much better quality. iii) Offer a ‘Lead Magnet’: The classic example of a lead magnet would be a downloadable guide, which people receive when they join your email list. You provide valuable advice (and let’s be honest, we can all use more of that!), while in return, they offer their email. It’s a win-win. But you may be able to get more creative and offer more than ‘just’ a guide. Here are some other ideas: Checklists: Create a checklist that helps your audience achieve a specific goal or complete a task. It could be a step-by-step checklist to follow for a particular process, a pre-launch checklist for a product or service, or a checklist for evaluating a problem or situation.  Templates: Offer pre-designed templates that your audience can use to save time and effort. Worksheets/Workbooks: Develop interactive worksheets or workbooks that guide your audience through a specific exercise that demonstrates your expertise. Video Tutorials: Create a series of video tutorials that demonstrate a particular skill or teach a specific concept. This could be a screencast tutorial, a how-to video, or a mini online course delivered via email. Webinars/Online Workshops: Host a live or pre-recorded webinar or online workshop where you provide valuable insights, teach new techniques, or discuss important industry trends. This allows you to interact with your audience in real-time and answer their questions. Quizzes/Assessments: Offer interactive quizzes or assessments that provide personalised insights or recommendations based on your audience's responses. This can be a fun way to engage your audience and offer tailored advice or solutions. Resource Lists: Curate a list of valuable resources, tools, or recommended books in your industry. This saves your audience time by providing them with a comprehensive list of trusted resources they can explore. Infographics: Create visually appealing infographics that present information or data in a concise and easily digestible format. Infographics are highly shareable and can be a valuable resource for your audience. Free Demos or Consultations: Provide a free demo of your product or service. This allows potential customers to experience the value you offer first-hand and can lead to conversions.   Supercharging Your CTA with a Sense of Urgency From “Maybe Later” to “Let's Do This Now!” Finally, to really get people to take action, you’ll want to add in a sense of urgency. Creating urgency is a crucial, and often-missed step, when people craft their Call To Action. Without it, you leave your prospect to say to themselves, “YES! This is great. I’ll do it later”. And then they forget. Urgency creates an emotional desire to do it now before it’s too late.   Key Techniques to Create Urgency: 1. Time-bound Offering : Nothing says 'do it now' quite like a deadline. e.g. "Sign up for our pregnancy yoga class and get a free yoga mat, offer ends this Sunday!" 2. Scarcity : When things are perceived as being in high demand, and therefore may run out, people will move quickly. e.g. "Only 5 spaces left in our music class! First come, first served." Or, “Sign up to our ‘Early Bird List’ to hear when tickets are on sale”. 3. Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) : No one likes feeling left out of a good thing, so make sure they know how popular your product or service is! e.g. "Join our community of over 5,000 parents who have taught their baby to sign through our courses!" You can obviously combine all 3 of these techniques to really create the need to act now.   You Never Know Until You Try Just as each child has their unique quirks, each business and its audience will respond differently to CTAs. So you will need to test, refine, and then test again. Remember, it took Edison 1,000 attempts to invent the light bulb, and look where we are now - making shadow puppets on the bedroom wall at 3 am! Because sleep is for the weak, right?   Need some help? Remember, if you need help crafting your CTA, we’re here for you. Please get in touch if you would like a free critique of your advert design! https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/may/25/supercharge-your-adverts-techniques-that-get-readers-to-take-action/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/may/25/supercharge-your-adverts-techniques-that-get-readers-to-take-action/ Thu, 25 May 2023 13:37:36 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/february/24/6-steps-to-creating-the-perfect-headline-for-your-print-advert/ One of the most frustrating experiences any business owner can have is paying for advertising that just doesn’t work. You spend good money to promote your business… and you get nothing back. Pretty much every business owner I have spoken to has had this experience at some point in their career – but, whilst it’s true that finding the right message and medium for your advertising does take some trial and error, it’s also the case that a LOT of business owners simply haven’t put in the thinking time necessary to make their advert generate results. There are several variables which will dictate the success of an advert, but arguably THE most important element of any print advertisement is the headline . David Ogilvy - the ‘Father of Advertising’ - tells us (and most experts agree) that whilst 8 out of 10 people will read an advert’s headline, only 2 out of 10 will read the rest of the advert... This means that your headline must grab your ideal customer’s attention and make them want to read more. And yet, flick through any magazine or paper, and it never takes long before you see an advert with a poor or non-existent headline. Don’t make that same mistake! In this article, I’ve put together a step-by-step guide to help you create an effective headline for your print advert – I hope you find it useful: Download our Advert Headline Cheat Sheet Here   Step 1: Identify Your Target Audience Before you can create an effective headline, you need to know who you want to reach with your advertisement. Avoid saying ‘Everyone’. You can’t create an effective headline that connects with ‘everyone’. Try to be as specific as possible. For example, “Mums with babies aged 0 – 18 months who live in [Place] and have a family income of £30 - £70K”. Can you picture a person who exemplifies your target audience? It might be someone you know, or an existing customer – or it might be an imaginary individual. This is your ‘avatar’ – you may want to give them a name. Forming a clear picture in your head of the person you are trying to reach can really make the later steps MUCH easier, as you can then tailor your headline to speak directly to them by appealing to their interests and needs. Sometimes (not often!), your Target Audience will be so tightly defined, that your headline need be nothing more than calling out to them. For example: Step 2: Get Clear About the Problem You Are Solving Your product or service will be solving a problem for your target audience – and often it will be more than one. We need to find the key problem you are solving for your avatar. This is the time for a brainstorm! Without judgement, write down a list of all the possible problems you could be solving. Keep your avatar in mind whilst doing this. (It may be helpful to think of the problem as the ‘need’ you are filling, or the ‘pain’ you are relieving). For example, let’s look at a business that offers yoga classes for children. The problems being solved could range from a ‘lack of physical fitness’ or ‘challenging behaviour’, to ‘depression’ or ‘self-esteem issues’ and more – but be as specific as possible. You want to create an exhaustive list if you can – often it’s the later problems you write down that are the biggies, so it’s worth persevering. Once you’ve done that, go through that list and see if there is one that jumps out as the ‘main’ problem you are solving: one that really resonates with you as something you are particularly good at addressing. This is the key problem you are now going to focus on in Step 3. Stating the problem(s) you are solving can be a highly effective headline in its own right. For example:    Step 3: How Do YOU Solve The Key Problem To create a good headline, you need to be able to clearly articulate how you solve the key problem identified in Step 2. Ideally, there will be an element of your solution that is unique to your business – what is it about your product or service that is different from your competitors? You may find it helpful to write out another list of options, and pick the one that ‘feels’ right to you. Again, being specific about the way in which you deliver your solution is helpful – it’s a great way to find that unique angle that only you provide. So… what are the unique benefits of your product or service that your target audience can't find elsewhere? In what way do you do what you do that is different and better than anyone else? Congratulations! Once you’ve done this, you’ve discovered that elusive ‘USP’ (Unique Selling Proposition) that marketeers love to talk about. It’s hard to understate how powerful it is to know your USP. In fact, if you are able to clearly articulate it, you may find you’ve got your killer headlight right there and you can stop reading any more! Simply stating how you solve a problem can also work as a headline, without further finesse. For example:        Step 4: What is the Desired Outcome? We started with the problem. We applied your unique solution. Now we need to define where your customer ends up, after going on that journey. This is normally the easiest step in the process, but it still needs doing because this is where your customers want to get to. Write it down and try to be as succinct as possible. Stating the 'Desired Outcome' as the headline seems to be what most advertisements (in my experience) focus on - and you can see why. It certainly connects with your target audience. Here are some examples:            Step 5: It’s Time to Get Emotional People make buying decisions based on emotion, not logic. And people are motivated to move away from painful feelings, and towards pleasurable feelings. So it’s important that you understand how your customer feels when they are suffering from the problem you have identified, and what it would mean to them for it to be solved. Imagine that you are your avatar. You really need to put yourself in your avatar’s shoes here and think like them. First, think about how the problem you have identified in Step 2 makes you feel – write this down. This is the ‘starting emotional state’ from which you are helping your customer get away. Next, imagine what getting a solution would mean to you. What could you (or your child) do? How would you feel? Write this down. This is is the ‘End Emotional State’ towards which you are taking your customer.     Step 6: Now It’s Time to Write That Headline (Finally!) If you’ve gone through steps 1 to 5, you’re in a great position to craft an amazingly powerful headline. You now know: a) The Customer’s Problem b) Your Unique Solution c) The Desired Outcome d) The ‘Starting Emotional State’ e) The ‘End Emotional State’ In just a few words, you need to use one or more of these things to create a sentence that really connects with your ideal prospect. You might find that simply stating one of them will make for a powerful headline. If more than one would work, you now have a few headlines to test! Alternatively, you can craft a headline by combining one or more of them into a phrase that will grab attention and connect with the reader. Don't worry if you don't get the right headline first try – it’s a good idea to just start writing and judge what you’ve written later. If you need some inspiration, download our ‘Advert Headline Cheat Sheet’ which gives you 25 different ‘fill in the blank’ headlines to help you get started. Here are some tips for a strong headline: 1. Keep it Simple and Direct Your headline should be simple, direct, and easy to understand. Avoid using jargon or complicated language that your target audience may not understand. Instead, focus on using simple, powerful words that convey your message clearly and effectively. Your headline should be no more than 10-15 words long, and ideally it will be shorter than that - it should be easy to read and remember. 2. Make it Attention-Grabbing Your headline should be attention-grabbing and memorable. Use bold fonts, contrasting colours, white space and other design elements to make your headline stand out on the page. You can also use humour, controversy, or curiosity to pique your target audience's interest and make them want to read more. Sometimes, you can grab attention sufficiently by shouting out about an offer or sale ... though I would normally only recommend this if your brand is very well known. If that isn't the case, then you'll need to follow this kind of headline up with some other compelling copy very swiftly - but it can be enough to get the eyeballs you need on your advert. For example:      3. Test Your Headline Once you've created your headline, test it out on a small group of people who fit your target audience. Ask them if the headline grabs their attention, if it's easy to understand, and if it makes them want to read more. Use their feedback to refine your headline and make it even more effective.   Download our Advert Headline Cheat Sheet Here   In Conclusion… Creating an effective headline for your print advert takes time, effort, and creativity. However, by following the steps outlined above, you CAN create a headline that grabs your target audience's attention, communicates your unique selling proposition, and motivates them to take action. Remember to keep your headline simple, direct, and emotional, and don't be afraid to test and refine it until it's perfect. With a strong headline, you can make sure that your marketing pennies work extra hard for you and that you create adverts that generate EXCELLENT results. https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/february/24/6-steps-to-creating-the-perfect-headline-for-your-print-advert/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2023/february/24/6-steps-to-creating-the-perfect-headline-for-your-print-advert/ Fri, 24 February 2023 18:00:44 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2022/november/27/how-to-survive-and-thrive-through-this-recession/ There’s no doubt about it – in the current economic climate, things are getting tough for many businesses. Consumers are already tightening their belts, which means you and your competitors are trying to sell to a shrinking number of prospects. And, whilst things will get better eventually, we’re going to be in this storm for a little while yet. Sadly, this means some businesses will end up closing their doors. But this isn’t a message of doom and gloom. You see, some businesses will find a way to thrive in this storm – this happens in every  recession, in every economic downturn. And all the businesses that survive it will be leaner and stronger because of it. So how do you navigate your business through the storm? It all boils down to one thing … you . Whether or not you survive the storm, or thrive in it, is dependent on the decisions you make as the business owner. How will you adapt to the changes in your customers' behaviour? Do you need to change your products or services? Introduce different payment options? Find new or different ways to reach them with your marketing? One thing many business owners will be considering is their overheads. They will be looking to cut costs and, broadly speaking, this is sensible. But there is also a danger. The problem kicks in when they cut back on the wrong things – the things that help them to attract and keep customers. Their marketing. In fact, those businesses that thrive whilst others are struggling tend to be those that prioritise and increase their marketing activities. They understand that without customers, they are nothing. They understand that if you stop marketing and advertising whilst your pool of potential customers is shrinking… well, there is only one possible outcome to that scenario, and it isn’t good. And if your competitors are cutting back on their marketing (which is likely), then that presents an amazing opportunity for you. In fact, if you just maintain your marketing activities, you’re already ahead of the pack. And if you increase them? Well, that’s when things can get pretty exciting. But you need to spend your marketing pennies in the right place. The good news for you is that there are plenty of places for you to advertise and market your business. The Toddle About magazine is one of them. If your ideal customers are parents (or parents-to-be) with children aged 0-5 years, then Toddle About is an advertising option that you should definitely be considering. I would like to present to some facts that support this… We went out to the readers of Toddle About recently and asked them a few questions about what they liked and wanted to see in their magazine. Here are some key findings :  * 96% of readers would actively recommend Toddle About to a friend  * 82% regularly attend groups and classes with their little ones every week  * 88% have taken action because of an advert in Toddle About  * 76% have above average income levels of over £30K p/a. (47% earn over £50K p/a) What does this mean? It means that the Toddle About magazine is well-read and highly valued by our readers. It means that our readers are actively involved in their children’s development, and they regularly spend money on products and services like yours. It means they are responding to adverts in Toddle About. And it means most of our readers have enough disposable income to spend money on your products and services, despite the current economic climate. In short, for many businesses, advertising in the Toddle About magazine is a pretty smart move. Plus, we'd like to help your marketing spend achieve even more for you:   Claim a FREE E-shot worth £79!    To put my money where my mouth is, I would like to offer you a FREE email e-shot (worth £79) if you book an advert in our January – March 2023 edition (1/4-page advert or bigger). You can read about our e-shot service here – it will enhance your magazine advert and get you an even better return on your investment. You’ll need to book by Friday 2 nd December 2022 and quote ROCKET23 when booking to claim your free e-shot. You can book your advert online here , or by contacting your local magazine . I hope you decide to join us – we’ll get through this storm together!   Download Media Pack       Request Free Magazine     Book Advert https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2022/november/27/how-to-survive-and-thrive-through-this-recession/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2022/november/27/how-to-survive-and-thrive-through-this-recession/ Sun, 27 November 2022 11:43:43 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2022/february/14/and-the-winner-is/ Happy Valentine's Day! And thank you to everyone that entered our competition to win a Full Page advert in the April - June 2022 edition of the Toddle About magazine. It has been such a fun competition to run with over 450 unique entries , plus many of you referring and recommending others to earn extra entries. We're excited to announce the winner give away a prize which will help a local business to succeed and have a great year. This is the moment Tim picked the winner of our competition this morning:     If you didn't win... Don't worry! You can of course still use Toddle About to reach tens of thousands of parents and attract new customers. Find out more about our advertising options here https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2022/february/14/and-the-winner-is/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2022/february/14/and-the-winner-is/ Mon, 14 February 2022 11:57:43 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2021/november/23/why-there-has-never-been-a-better-time-to-use-print-advertising/ Since launching Toddle About in 2010, we’ve seen a lot of change in the world of advertising. Smart phones now proliferate, and the average person in the UK spends nearly 2.5 hours looking at their phones each day. Naturally, advertising spend has followed consumers’ attention and businesses have shifted their advertising spend from more traditional media to online options. And yet, almost paradoxically, now is one of the best times in history to get great results from print advertising. I know that's a big claim... but it's not just my opinion! Real, actual research from RAMetrics * indicates that print advertising is now out-performing online advertising in several ways:   Print Adverts Get More Attention According to the research, readers are 152% more likely to pay attention to print advertising vs digital advertising (38% for print vs 25% for digital). This could be for several reasons, but my guess is that it’s largely down to ‘speed of consumption’ and competition: Speed of consumption When we read a magazine or other print media, our reading process is much more linear. We like to read from left to right, from beginning to end. It is a slower reading process than the speedy, ‘skip to the good bit’ reading process we have online. As a result, we also have more time to look at the adverts that make up part of our reading experience. High Competition for Attention with Online Ads Online, we are inundated with marketing messages and adverts – so much so, that our in-built ‘spam filters’ work on overtime when we are browsing digital content. As a result, we scroll past ads and ‘sponsored posts’ without a second thought. When you’re a business owner paying per impression, that’s can become an expensive problem. Print Advertising Creates Stronger Brand Awareness This time the research demonstrates that Branding is 185% stronger in print advertising vs digital advertising (37% vs 20% for digital). This means that readers are more likely to remember your brand after seeing a print advert, versus an online advert. From my own personal experience, I can definitely see the truth in this. I couldn’t tell you any of the online ads I saw today, but I can still recall several I have seen in my favourite magazine over the last few months. I suppose the fact that people are more likely to pay attention to a print advert over a digital advert would naturally lead onto this. Though it’s no doubt also relevant that readers are 139% more likely to say that print ads are interesting to them (39% vs 28%) and that print ads are 141% easier to understand (52% vs 37% for digital).   Print Adverts Actually Drive More Website Visits I have to admit, this one really surprised me. One of the challenges of print advertising, is how to get the reader to shift medium – to go from an offline experience (of reading the advert in a magazine) to an online experience (of making an enquiry, or a booking or a purchase). There are several techniques to enable this shift of medium (e.g. well written copy; a compelling, time-bound offer; a free giveaway; competitions etc), but it still surprised me to read that, when it comes to driving action, the RAMetrics research suggests that print advertising drives higher levels of website visits (20% vs 19% for digital). Print also leads to more recommendations (32% vs 23% for digital) and discussions (20% vs 14% for digital).    So Should We Ditch Digital Advertising and Plow All Our Budgets into Print instead? Well, no. I would suggest that online advertising has a place in pretty much every business' marketing mix. It has many advantages of its own, from advanced targeting and tracking options to its ease of implementation and immediate effect. But it’s also clear that if you’re not using print advertising in your marketing mix, then you’re probably missing a trick. And customers too. In the end, the best marketing strategy will include multiple media - online AND print - so you are reaching your target prospects in lots of different ways. Repeated Attention is the secret sauce to an effective marketing campaign – and the best way to get repeated attention is by exposing your prospects to your messaging as many times, and in as many different ways, as possible. Advertising in Toddle About Magazine If your business offers services or products to parents (mostly mums) with children from pregnancy to 5 years old, then you will struggle to find a better place to advertise that in your local Toddle About magazine. Find out more about advertising in Toddle About .   * RAMetrics is a research company which offers media statistics on how articles, advertisements and other media communication are consumed and perceived. The company works almost exclusively with online surveys and the subsequent analysis of the content. Find out more at  www2.rampanel.com https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2021/november/23/why-there-has-never-been-a-better-time-to-use-print-advertising/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2021/november/23/why-there-has-never-been-a-better-time-to-use-print-advertising/ Tue, 23 November 2021 16:37:47 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2021/three-kinds-of-advertising/ There are all sorts of ways to advertise your business or products but what is the best way to achieve your advertising goals? We look at the three most popular kinds of advertising – which will you chose? Direct response adverts  – is a type of marketing designed to gain an instant response by encouraging potential or existing customers to take a specific action. Direct response adverts must trigger immediate action from prospects, since the goal is to generate leads quickly. These adverts tend to pay for themselves (at least they do when they work). Socially acceptable paid-for interruption leads to response, and the response (a sale, generally) generates revenue and you can run the ad again. Google's business is driven by direct response advertising. Trust adverts  – a marketing technique based on building consumer relationships through trustworthy dialogue and unbiased information. This is said to give customers increased consumer power through Internet access to product information and competitive pricing. These types of adverts are generally unmeasurable. The common phase, "I've heard of these guys, somewhere." Without consciously realising it, we often choose to do business with the familiar, and adverts increase familiarity. Particularly the right advert that runs in the right place. This is old school advertising, the first kind that appeared on TV. This is advertising that tells a story, advertising about belief, not necessarily action. Demand adverts  – any advertising that promotes a product rather than a brand. It differs from brand advertising, which focuses solely on the brand. They remind us that on a hot day, we'd like a cold drink. They are adverts designed to tickle and provoke your target audience, to increase the number of people in the market for what it is you sell. Every so often, an advert does all three things, but that's often that is a foolish thing to hope for. All businesses should try and budget appropriately, because the very worst thing you can do with an advert is spend too little–it will get you the same results as spending nothing. If you are unsure which type of advertising to go for to get the best response for your business, Toddle About can help you out. We have over ten years of advertising experience and knowledge, not just for ourselves but many of our clients too. Drop us an email advertsing@toddleabout.co.uk or call us on 01327 830171. https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2021/three-kinds-of-advertising/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2021/three-kinds-of-advertising/ Mon, 16 August 2021 11:27:36 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2021/advertising-trends-for-2021/ In this day and age, there are endless possibilities open to businesses when it comes to advertising, but which is the best option and what is trending in 2021? We take a look at the most current trends. Digital vs Print A long-standing debate, what is best and what will achieve the ROI that your business needs?   The short answer is that both have their own pros and cons and, for most businesses, the best marketing strategy will include an element of both of them. Digital advertising allows you to reach a lot of people very quickly, and also allows for highly targeted campaigns. It provides a much faster output too - people can access it instantly and the tracking and reporting available on digital advertising provides much clearer data for calculating ROI, which in turn allows you to test and adjust campaigns relatively quickly.   On the flip side, it can be convoluted and complicated to set up digital advertising correctly, particularly on Facebook and Google, and this makes it incredibly easy to waste a lot of time and money. You can set budgets and cap spend, but the actual algorithm for calculating the cost of each impression or click is unknown and you don’t know how much you will pay for a lead until your bill comes in.   There are a lot of options when it comes to digital advertising. Here are some of the top choices: Customised advertising – showing customised/personalised adverts to your target audience. Many customers perceive personalisation as attractive and engaging and dislike generic ads. Video advertising – whilst this isn’t new, real-time streaming of videos is becoming increasing popular. Customers want the most direct, fast and concise form of communication in the form of short video ads. Mobile advertising – this is BIG! So many of us are permanently attached to our mobiles and brands know this. The ‘story’ ad format is becoming more and more popular with major social channels adopting it (Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, LinkedIn and YouTube). In game advertising is also growing fast, making mobile advertising a huge trend for 2021. Display advertising – probably the first form of advertising employed on the internet, displaying your adverts on other people’s websites is still a powerful and popular way of reaching new prospects. Many platforms allow you to specify which websites your advert can and can’t be shown on, giving you a decent method of targeting your ads. Re-marketing – a sub-set of display advertising, this form of digital advertising allows businesses to gather information about their customers from previously visited websites and present them with highly ‘customised’ adverts, re-targeting people who have shown an interest in what you have to offer before. AI advertising – a new and emerging trend for 2021, is progmatic advertising delivered through AI (artificial intelligence). Using targeting signals and real-time adaption for individual adverts or campaigns via any given channel. Trends such as the use of voice search will become more and more in the same way we are already using Siri and Alexa – opening up lots of exciting opportunities to businesses. Whilst digital has big plus points, print advertising still very much has its place in the marketing strategy of most businesses. With digital advertising, you are beholden to the policies of platforms such as Facebook, Google and Apple, and these can change quickly and seemingly on a whim, with little warning. These changes can have dramatic, negative effects of the effectiveness of campaigns – so if you are reliant on a single digital platform for generating leads, your whole strategy is on a shaky foundation. Conversely, the more marketing streams you employ, the less you have to worry about changes to any one of them, making your strategy secure and robust. As there are many customers who do not use technology, or are reducing their use of it, and print media can be a very effective way to meet these people.   It also makes a refreshing change! People are so exposed to digital advertising that it has become overwhelming and ignoring or ‘clicking to skip’ an advert is ingrained into our brains. On the flipside, adverts in a magazine or a piece of direct mail through the front door are now much more inviting and even enjoyable to ‘browse’ through. In 2021, successful traditional print advertising is all about targeting it as much as possible – both geographically and by demographic. Direct mail – whereas junk mail through the door used to go straight in the bin, it is now such a rarity to get something by snail mail, it is generating a lot of engagement and results. People are spending more and more time at home and businesses can really tap into this with direct mail pieces e.g. postcards. Flyers or direct mail can be posted with Royal Mail, local distributors, or by hand yourself if your business is hyper-local. Records for direct mail campaigns are growing significantly making this an old/new trend for 2021. Niche Publications – advertising in the local paper is no longer a good option for the typical business – their reach is vastly reduced as people turn to other media for their news, and the demographic they reach is too broad to target your advertising message. Niche Publications however provide a fantastic opportunity to reach a highly targeted audience who are very engaged with the content of their magazine, making niche publications a great place to advertise in 2021. Flyer inserts – Leveraging the benefits of both of the above points, inserting your flyers into a niche publication reaches a highly targeted and engaged audience, and maximises stand out to the reader. Focusing on the ‘Why’ – more focus is being given to the meaning and purpose of adverts, especially when it comes to adverts in magazines/newspapers and other forms of print media. Coming from a place of purpose will drive marketing and advertising to new heights and help bring customers that are better suited for what you have to offer. About Toddle About Toddle About offer an array of advertising options , both digital (via their website, email list and social media accounts), and print (via the Toddle About magazine and flyer inserts) Toddle About have over a decade of advertising experience, working with hundreds of businesses to improve and perfect their advertising campaigns - so we know a thing or two!   We are always on the look out for new initiatives to help our customers grow their business.   If you would like any advice about which of these 2021 trends is right for you, feel free to drop us a line advertising@toddleabout.co.uk https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2021/advertising-trends-for-2021/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2021/advertising-trends-for-2021/ Fri, 06 August 2021 07:01:39 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2021/the-rule-of-seven-in-advertising/ There are many aspects to a successful advertising campaign, but according to advertising's Rule of Seven, one of the biggest errors that both experienced and novice businesses make time and time again is that they think too short-term. What is the ‘Rule of Seven’ The rule of seven simply states that a potential customer will need to hear or see a specific marketing message at least seven times before they will buy from you. Seven is not necessarily the magic number, some will buy after only seeing your advert once, some may take more than ten times but on average, this is how many times a marketing message needs to be seen to be acted upon. Don’t Despair The Rule of Seven can sometimes be disappointing news for new marketeers. It means you can get everything right -the right product at the right time in the right place, with the most perfectly written and designed advert - and still your first foray into the advertising world will, statistically speaking, not give you the results you were after. Understanding the Rule of Seven gives you the knowledge you need to plan an effective marketing campaign, and analyse your results more accurately. It’s All About Interaction The Rule of Seven doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to stick to the same advert in the same location, it’s more a case of gaining as much exposure as you can to the right target audience – at least seven times. Interaction can come in all forms, including: • Press/magazine advert • Social media advertising • Email marketing advert • Online banners • Google ads • Reading a company/brand review • Word of mouth • Telephone call from the brand • Billboard adverting • Seeing the brand at an event The list could go on and on, what is important is that the messaging is consistent and the more times a potential customer sees your brand, it will push them closer to making a purchase. Why It’s Important We live in world where we are bombarded with marketing messages. If a potential customer hears about your brand and thinks “that’s a great product, but I just don’t need it right now”, would it be reasonable to expect them to remember the name of your company three month later? Probably not. Therefore, the rule of seven is important. Just because someone matches your target buyer persona doesn't mean they are ready to buy your product or service right away. It may just be that at this moment in time, their need is not enough to warrant a purchase. Maintaining visibility and reminding your prospects that you are there will put you ahead of your competition. Understanding the Psychology If you leverage the rule of seven and increase your marketing methods so that you are reaching the same audience with the same message at least 7 times, you WILL see more leads and sales coming in as a result of your efforts. There are several reasons for this: • Your brand remains front of mind. People can be forgetful and easily distracted. A bit like learning lines or a new language, repetition aids recall. It’s no different with your brand. • It makes sales conversations easier. Any salesperson will tell you a sales conversation is infinitely easier when the potential customer has heard of your brand. Your sales conversions will increase if you become better known amongst your target market. • It generates awareness across multiple decision-makers. • You handle various objections over time. There may be a variety of reasons why the customer doesn’t want to do business with you. By encouraging multiple interactions, you can make efforts to address various objections using blog content or case studies for example. What You Can Do To Get The Most Out Of ‘The Rule of Seven’ Develop a plan to make yourself visible amongst your target customers: 1. Have a very clear idea of who your customers are. You need to clearly define the characteristics of your target audience in order to help you understand their needs, desires and worries so you can tailor your message to resonate with them. 2. Determine where to advertise and how to reach them. Create a buyer persona to develop an idea of which events they attend, which magazines they read, which websites they visit and so on. Those are the places you want to advertise yourself – the more, the better. 3. Activate your digital remarketing channels . Digital remarketing on Google, Facebook and LinkedIn after a customer has left a website is a low cost, low effort way to give you visibility among people that have shown some previous interest in your brand. 4. Put a content marketing plan together that covers the whole buyer lifecycle. There are various stages that the customer goes through as they consider a purchase – if you think these through and create content (emails/videos/letters/blog posts etc) that addresses each stage of their journey, then you can help them from one step to the next with ease. 5. Amplify your content into social channels. Ideally, your content will generate some SEO visibility, but effective SEO services also involve amplifying that content across social channels using both organic and paid techniques . With budget you can get your content in front of your target profiles using LinkedIn and Facebook. 6. Have an email marketing campaign. Don’t think of email as an opportunity to make sales. Think of it as a way to help and grow your customers and your relationship with them; both potential and existing. Drive email opt ins by offering helpful free content that they can subscribe to. With the Rule of Seven knowledge and these marketing/advertising initiatives in place, you will create greater visibility of your business encouraging people to purchase. Toddle About can offer help and advice with various advertising options including magazine adverts, website banners, email marketing and social media. Please email advertising@toddleabout.co.uk to find out more. https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2021/the-rule-of-seven-in-advertising/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2021/the-rule-of-seven-in-advertising/ Tue, 27 July 2021 12:38:12 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2021/advertising-and-the-power-of-frequency/ Repeat, repeat, repeat. Frequency is essential in the success of any advertising campaign. We explain why and what to do in this blog.      Why Frequency is Important? Frequency is the average number of times that a person within your target audience has the opportunity to see an advertisement over a period of time. Effective frequency, on the other hand, is the minimum number of times a communication must be exposed to a potential customer in order to positively impact that consumer’s buying behaviour. Effective Frequency The concept of effective frequency is one of the oldest marketing rules in the book, otherwise known as the rule of seven. The rule of seven quite simply states that it takes an average of seven interactions with a brand before a purchase will take place. But in reality it’s not that simple. The magic frequency number that will get people to buy depends on the campaign, the message and the target audience. Sometimes it could literally take just one advert but other times it will take ten or twenty times. It’s All About Repetition The focus should be on the importance of frequency itself – the power of repetition. As consumers, it’s common knowledge, the more times they hear or see something, the more likely they are to remember it. Often small business owners will try something once, expect immediate results, and draw the conclusion after a couple days that it was or wasn’t effective. Building a brand and strong reputation takes time. It doesn’t happen overnight. Get The Most Out of Your Advert Advertising can be costly, however you can still choose a cost-effective marketing plan and get the frequency you need without breaking the bank. There are lots of options out there to reach the same people in different ways – for example, Toddle About not only offer print advertising but also other options for Social Media , Website and, e-Newsletters . Imagine you have a special offer to promote. Your target market might first receive a teaser via Facebook. Later that week, they receive a copy of a magazine they subscribe to and notice your promotion that you posted on Facebook earlier. This advertisement may have more information or a link to a website. The next time they are in your area, they notice a new sign in front of your business and decide to walk in to check it out. It doesn’t matter which one of these touch points is the final push to getting them to buy – the result is a combination of touch points, directing them to the promotion. Know Your Target Audience You must also understand the importance of proper targeting and relevance in your marketing. This way, you avoid marketing fatigue. Consumers face a barrage of advertising messages on a daily basis. The best way to avoid sending constant promotions that are irrelevant to your target audience is to know your market before starting an advertising campaign. Offers that are relevant don’t bore your potential consumers, so target them well. Hopefully these insights have provided some food for thought when you are planning your next advertising campaign! Frequency and reach are just two (albeit important) factors that determine advertising success. In the meantime, if you are interested in finding our more about advertising in the Toddle About magazine, you can read more here or request our advertising rates here . You can also contact us on 01327 830171 or by emailing advertise@toddleabout.co.uk . https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2021/advertising-and-the-power-of-frequency/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2021/advertising-and-the-power-of-frequency/ Tue, 13 July 2021 08:34:01 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2021/june/28/how-to-design-a-great-advert/ When designing an advert, whether it is through a design agency, as a marketing professional or just promoting your own business, taking the time to invest in a great design is essential - especially when you understand how a great advert will generate conversions. Why A Great Design is Important There are various reasons why ensuring the advert you design is great. Most importantly, in a world saturated with marketing messages, you want to make sure that your design stands out from the crowd. Bad adverts are commonplace. Good adverts too. You need a great advert in order to stand out. A consistently good design will help your business appeal to your chosen audience. Great design helps to shape and improve your brand. When you intentionally put a lot of thought into your advert design, you send out high-quality signals about your business and the services or product you are offering. In short, a great advert design will maximise any investment you make in advertising by generating leads, enquiries and sales. advert design ma We have put together some tips on things to remember when creating your advert design. Make Your Message Clear When designing a great advert, the most important element is to consider what the message is that you want to convey to your audience. Powerful ads highlight the key messages. Determining what your key message should be is a broad topic that we will cover another day, but a good places to start is considering what your business’ unique selling point (USP) is. What makes your business / product/ service different to others out there? Why do your customers choose and recommend you? The message should be clear and concise so that anyone looking at your advert can easily see and understand what you are offering at first glance. This is where the visuals and copy play a vital role. Get Emotional Much as we like to think of ourselves as rational animals, most of our decisions are actually emotional decisions – we decide we want something before justifying that decision with logic. So utilising emotion in an advert’s messaging is an effective way to outperform adverts that feature just rational content. Good use of emotion will create a connection with the reader and will stop them in their tracks and take notice of what you are saying. Your business’ USP, core message and target audience will all influence the level of emotion that you use - it could be sentimental, nostalgia or humour – as long as it creates a connection through empathy, your advert will stand a better chance of performing well. Try Different Colourways As a business you will most likely already have a brand identity in place in the form of a logo/website, and maybe even some brand guidelines. It is important to consider how this is already used – for example, is there a primary colour and a few secondary colours that you use regularly? For consistency, and brand recognition, a great advert should use the branding already in place. However, a subtle shift in the arrangement of your main colourways can be the difference between an average ad and a great advert – experiment. Finally, avoid the temptation to fill every available space of your advert, include some white space and you’ll have a more attractive and easier to read advert. Define the Call To Action (CTA) Any great advert ultimately wants people to do something with it besides just looking at it. It could be to pick up the phone, visit a website or some other action but it’s amazing how many adverts don’t have a clear Call To Action that tells the readers what they should do next. So take some time to consider what you actually want people to do after reading your advert and tell them clearly what to do and what is in it for them. (Hint: if a spontaneous buying decision is unlikely, then how can you get them to give you their contact details so you can follow up with them?) A Visual Tip Simply adding a border to a part of your advert is a powerful and effective visual element to draw the eye - it is called the framing effect. The main focus of a great advert is some variation of the unique selling proposition; the CTA is also a key message you want to make clear. Placing a border around one of these messages helps it to stand out. Bring Some Harmony Designing a great advert is all about visual harmony. In practice, this means that when you bring all the elements of your design together, they blend together in a unified way. Make sure the way you present your unique selling point, colour choices and other visual elements all enhance each other. It is easy for a design to look out of place if there is no logical reason for the way it has been brought together. Experiment, Experiment, Experiment A great advert design can often be the by-product of trying a few different designs to see what engages your audience in the best way. Unfortunately, there is no magic formulas in design and marketing that will guarantee sales, but often designs are tried and tested to work out the best formula for a specific business. You may get it right first time, but it may take a few tries to understand what generates the best outcome. Advert Design Help We realise there is a lot of information and advice to take on board and it can seem daunting if you are new to advert design or marketing. Toddle About offers a professional and affordable advert design service that anyone can take advantage of, and we would be happy to help. Of course, if you decide to advertise in the Toddle About magazine, you will also be advertising in a great place which will help ensure you get a great return from your investment. https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2021/june/28/how-to-design-a-great-advert/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2021/june/28/how-to-design-a-great-advert/ Mon, 28 June 2021 10:19:06 https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2021/june/21/welcome-to-the-toddle-about-advertising-blog/ As a successful magazine that has been running for over 10 years, and with a business model that centres heavily around our advertising offering, we felt it would be great to put a blog together that businesses can benefit from when considering their advertising strategy. It can be a daunting prospect, especially if you are new to marketing and you have a million and other things to do. One of your most important tasks though is to get your business name out there so that people are aware you exist, can start using your services, and your business can start to prosper and make a profit. Toddle About is aimed at, and read by parents and carers of children aged 0 – 5 years old, in fact even before they are born! We are trusted by our audience which covers Northamptonshire, Warwickshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Suffolk and we will be expanding to all areas of the UK in time through our magazine franchise opportunity . Our advertising blog aims to help businesses with their advertising decisions, helping you to decide when, where and how to advertise, through our greatest hints and tips that we ourselves have gleaned over the past decade. There isn’t much we don’t know about the subject and of course, if you can’t find the answer you are looking for within our blog, you can always give us a call 01327 830171 or drop us an email advertise@toddleabout.co.uk and we will be more than happy to assist you in any way that we can. You can subscribe to be notified about new Advertising Advice blog posts here and we will be announcing the posts on our Facebook page , so watch this space! https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2021/june/21/welcome-to-the-toddle-about-advertising-blog/ https://toddleabout.co.uk/advertise/blog/2021/june/21/welcome-to-the-toddle-about-advertising-blog/ Mon, 21 June 2021 00:00:00