If you're not already aware, Facebook announced that they are launching a new platform called Facebook Shops earlier this month. It will allow you to set up an ecommerce store so that your customers can buy products from you, without leaving Facebook. In this blog, we talk about the pros, cons and how this could be a great solution for your business if you operate a traditional, retail model.

“Offering support and value to your clients is the key to long term success.”  Wise words indeed from Klood, a digital marketing agency based at the iCentre.  A week prior to the lockdown, Klood decided to be pro-active and moved their operations so the team were setup and ready to work from home. Then swiftly turned their attention to ways that they could continue to build supportive relationships for their clients, to help them through this difficult time.

For many of us, our marketing efforts often lean towards social media, but email marketing still gets brilliant results if you set it up properly. You now need to pay the social media channels to get your content seen more than ever, which is why many small businesses should consider maximising email marketing to promote their business. 

There is no doubt about it, many businesses have been very heavily hit by the recent lockdown due to Coronavirus and there is a general concern that there will be problems moving forward if the economy takes a while to pick up. Government borrowing for April was £62 billion, the largest amount since records began which is not surprising news considering the level of help that the Government has put in place for businesses and individuals in order to keep people safe. 

One Bucks Biz resident who had to adapt his business very quickly was Chris Edwards from The Instrument Factory.  Knowing that the country would soon be in lockdown, Chris changed the music studio space in his Newport Pagnell unit so that he could offer music lessons remotely. Having a large client base attending in person each week, Chris knew that he needed to make some changes so that he could continue to offer his students the very best music tuition in these challenging conditions.

Video is huge and it's continuing to be popular on social media - it was before and increasingly so as the world adjusts to the 'new normal.'  Video content gets much higher engagement on social media (see stats below) compared to text-only posts, so it's time to start getting confident in front of the camera and creating your own videos! Luckily, there's loads of tips and tricks out there to help you create your own videos for social media. Here, Rachel Allen from 13Ten Marketing pulls together some of the easiest tools to use to help make your social media stand out!

One business that’s continued throughout the lockdown and predicting busier times is PB Safety Consultancy at the iCentre in Newport Pagnell. A team of  eight including five Consultants, they offer Health and Safety audits, risk assessments and training for a number of companies including office based businesses and those with manufacturing premises and construction sites.

One business that’s fully adapted to the new reality is The Armory Coaching Studio. They traditionally run personal fitness sessions for small groups and individuals, but given the restrictions imposed by the Government, they have now started to offer a range of online options as their studio at Bucks Biz MK2 is out of bounds for some time whilst the lockdown restrictions are in place.

As we approach a month of lockdown, desperation and boredom might start to set in. It’s tough, we do get it, but we’ve had a search through the Bucks Biz blog archives and found a couple of articles that you might want to re-read as they’re full of great inspiration to help you get through the coming weeks and months:

As business owners, we are often concerned with looking after the financial health of our business and the emotional wellbeing of our staff, especially at the moment. However, don’t forget that you need to look after yourself too! We’ve had another dig through the Bucks Biz blog archives and found a number of articles all designed to help you keep your mental and physical wellbeing in great shape.