Promoting your Donut website

Welcome to your Donut

Look after your existing clients and turn them into advocates – win new business via personal recommendations.

Actively target and win new business from your list of prospects.

Break down traditional barriers to attracting prospects in your existing marketing initiatives – eg now you can get a measurable return from a seminar or exhibition.

Your Donut brings a number of benefits. It will help your firm:

In this pack…

This welcome pack has suggestions on how to integrate your Donut website with your marketing and maximise its impact for your firm.

First steps to start promoting your Donut Next steps to promote your Donut

TIP: When navigating this pack, look out for the orange highlighted links, clicking these will jump you straight to the topic or external reference point.

First steps to start promoting your Donut website

link from your website1

Here you can see an example of how you can promote your Donut on your website. To maximise traffic to your Donut position the link in a prominent place so your visitors can easily access the website. It’s also a good idea to add some brief text explaining what the Donut is and how it can help your clients.

More…For further suggestions on how to integrate the Donut on your website view this slide

Resources (We’ll send these to you)

Promotional Donut banners for websites: (GIF)

High-resolution logo and Donut screenshots: (JPG) (BMP) (PSD)

tell your clients

We’ll send your clients a welcome email to introduce them to your Donut and make them aware of your monthly MyDonut email e-newsletter.

Before we do this… it’s recommended you contact your clients to introduce your Donut, as you have the relationship with them. This can be done via a simple email including an introduction similar to below:

' ...we’re launching a new business advice website. The Donut includes a wealth of free information and tools to help you run your business. We’ll be sending your free login details soon. This gives you complete access to the Donut website and you’ll receive a helpful monthly e-newsletter packed full of useful advice on everything you need to know about running your business that month. If you do not wish to receive the e-newsletter in future, you can click the 'unsubscribe' link and you’ll be instantly removed from the distribution list.'

We can provide you with a standard template wording when you come to send this email.

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tell your fee earners

Tell your fee earners about the new Donut resources you’re offering your clients and how it can help with your client account management, business development, as well as raise your firm’s profile. A simple email, staff meeting or internal e-newsletter are perfect ways to raise awareness - and please encourage your fee earners where possible to refer clients to your Donut. .

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Encourage your team to provide feedback on what they would like to see on your Donut. Send us your feedback.

We’re also happy to add bespoke content to your Donut at a shared cost.

create a press release

Contact key journalists, bloggers and influencers directly:

We’ll provide you with a press release to help get you startedFor additional help on press contacts view this slide

Submit your press release to free PR distribution sites such as

www.BriefingWire.com and www.PrSplash.co.uk

Announce your news via social media. Include links to relevant videos, pictures and web pages. Think about what the readers will want to read and share!

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Next steps to promote your Donut Website

Use your MyDonut e-newsletter

Your clients are registered for the MyDonut e-newsletter – an excellent monthly e-newsletter covering the full spectrum of business issues.

The e-newsletter will be branded from you and is a regular monthly communication to your clients – so, make sure that your clients and prospects are registered to receive this as it guarantees regular familiarisation with your firm’s brand.

You also have the option (for a modest monthly charge) to include up to 3 of your own articles. This is a great way for you to shout about news from your firm.

If you’re not already featuring local content in your MyDonut newsletter and would like to find out more please Contact Us

Integrate links to your website

Be Visible

Feature the Donut banner in the upper half of your website (known as ‘above the fold’). The less scrolling your visitor has to do to become aware of your Donut, the more likely they are to visit it!

Please note: We’ll send your Donut banner to you, if you haven’t received yours please contact us.

Make it obvious - and personalise it

Provide a ‘call to action’ line of text, for example “Click here to gain access to our free no nonsense business advice.” This will encourage users to visit your Donut resources.

Example: Integrating links on your website

Take a look at the screenshot below, this highlights a shining ‘above the fold’ example of how to integrate your Donut with your website.

1) Seamless Integration: The Donut has been introduced under it’s own ‘Resources’ section, consistent with the other sections.

2) Relevant Call to Action and explanation of the service.

3) Prominent display of Donut banner, drawing visual attention to the links.

Integrate links in a resources section

Integrate your Donut so it provides a depth of content to your website, as well as an intuitive user journey. If you have a resources section on your website you can create links from these pages to your Donut content (See below). Please Contact us to discuss how to achieve this.

Engage on Twitter

Develop stronger relationships with your clients online by tweeting links and snippets from your Donut content. NB: Please contact us before you do this and we can show you how to link to content on your Donut.

Follow the official Twitter accounts for the Donuts; @marketingdonut, @startupdonut, @lawdonut and @ITdonut. Feel free to re-tweet any of the tweets we send via these accounts. Do chat to us too, we’re always happy to help raise your profile online.

You can also engage your followers by inviting them to comment on the latest content on the Donuts.

Resource

If you’d like to know more about setting up a Twitter account, please visit our helpful advice here:

Get started with Twitter advice

Promote on Facebook

Announce your Donut website to people that “Like” your Facebook page. In your update, provide a brief introduction to the extensive advice offered by your Donut. Take a look at the My Donut Facebook page for some ideas.

Mention relevant content from your Donut website on your Facebook updates. Invite fans to ‘comment’ on the content too.

Resource

If you would like to know more about realising the benefits of Facebook, please visit our helpful advice here:

Get started on Facebook

Feature on your LinkedIn

Mention your Donut website wherever possible. Updates are a great place to start.

Ask relevant team members and fee earners to provide a link to your Donut within their profiles. For example, LinkedIn allows users to link to three websites (see circled area on the image to right).

Mention items such as ‘free business advice’ in your Keywords.

Resource

If you’d like to know more about realising the benefits of LinkedIn, please visit this advice on the Marketing Donut:

Getting started with LInkedin

Engage on your Blog

Provide links to your Donut in your links section. This will raise awareness of your Donut and point your clients in the right direction for further business advice.

Regularly look for articles from your Donut which may provide support for your blog posts, we update content all the time so you won’t have to wait long for new content to be available.

Discuss and introduce any new content to your readers. For example, a new article on your Donut may feature an update on tax. Highlight this article in a blog post and encourage your clients to read it in full.

Resource

If you’d like to know more about realising the benefits of blogs, please visit this helpful advice on the Marketing Donut:

Successful blogging tips

Use word of mouth at events

Incorporate your Donut website into your next seminar or exhibition. For example:

•Get the business card of those that attend your event and tell them that you will register them on your Donut. This is a great way of capturing prospects. Not only will they see your firm brand and your partners every time they use the Donut, but they will also receive your firm’s MyDonut e-newsletter every month.

•Use the materials on your Donut in your presentations and as handouts. There is a wealth of information on the website for you to make use of, rather than having to produce this yourself.

If you require speakers for a large event we might be able to help. A member of our team or one of our experts could attend your event to speak on a specialist subject. Contact us to find out more and to check availability.

Add value to your firm’s e-newsletter

Reserve a section to promote your Donut in your firm’s e-newsletter.

Your Donut is full of relevant content for your subscribers, you canlink to this content from your e-newsletters

Select a feature article in each edition. Pick a relevant topic from your Donut, for example ‘You and Your Idea’. You can use the content from your Donut to add value toyour e-newsletter. Don’t forget to add links back to your Donut website too

If you’re not sending your own email newsletters, but you would be interested in doing so, contact us for more information about our email newsletter services.

Added value to your print material

Brochures, guides, leaflets, magazine and mail shots…

Consider referencing how your Donut provides a benefit for your clients and how it shows your commitment to adding value over and above your paid for services.

You can include a cut and paste section from the Donut in any of your printed material. You don’t need to ask permission but please ensure you attribute any content to the Donut.

Resource

If you would like to know more about realising the benefits of direct marketing, please visit:

www.marketingdonut.co.uk/marketing/direct-marketing/leafletingwww.marketingdonut.co.uk/marketing/direct-marketing/creating-a-mailshot/plan-an-effective-mailshot

How to find press contacts

Struggling to find local press contacts?

Look at the websites of local papers, almost all newspaper websites have a ‘contact us’ link which will allow you to directly contact the editorial team.

To identify further press contacts, look at the publication lists of Archant, Newsquest and TrinityMirror who produce over 300 regional publications collectively.

If we have press contacts within your region then we will be happy to supply them to you. Just contact us for our help

When contacting journalists, remember to introduce yourself and your firm first. Look to build a relationship and mention that over time you may have content of interest to them. Treating journalists with respect and keeping in regular contact is key to success!

Pr ess

Contacts

Contact Details

We hope this welcome pack helps you and your clients to get the most out of your Donut website.

If you have any further questions or would like to know more about any of the topics mentioned, please feel free to get in touch:

Email: paula.hillier@bhpinfosolutions.co.uk Phone: 0117 904 2224 Twitter: @paulahillier LinkedIn: Paula Hillier