Voice search has been touted as the next big thing for many years now. It's frequently looked as though it was about to take off – but it's never quite happened. 2020 may just be the year to change all that. Here's why.

Customers and prospects love to feel that the business they're being asked to deal with – or have already dealt with – sees them as people, not just as numbers on a spreadsheet. Saying thank you is an easy, simple and effective way to achieve this. How you do it depends on the situation, but here are some ideas.

Email is a powerful and effective method of digital marketing – but like any other approach, if misused it can cause you more harm than good. One of the trickiest things to judge is how often to send them. Here are a few pointers to help you make the right choice.

Email marketing is an excellent way of communicating with prospects. It doesn't get in the way of their schedules, it can be picked up whenever it's convenient – and email marketing can deliver an excellent ROI, potentially as high as 38 times what you spent. But what if you don't already have a list of prospects to send emails to? Start here.

As the new year gathers pace, many businesses are looking to step up their sales performance. Attracting new customers is the first step on the road – and it can be tempting to fall back on that old standby, cold calling. But hold your horses. There are plenty of alternatives that don't involve calling people out of the blue.

Despite the increasing globalisation of many supply chains, local customers are still hugely important to most companies. Smartphone users, in particular, are often much more likely to buy from businesses whose online information is tailored to the customer's location.

Human beings are innately visual creatures. The right video content can have a dramatic effect on your sales, and it can be a great place to turn to make your content stand out from that of your competitors. But how can you use video to reach more prospects – and get them to convert? Let's take a closer look.

If potential customers are already knocking on your door, it can be tempting to rein in your marketing activities. If you do, however, you could be missing out on lucrative business opportunities. No matter how well your marketing strategy is doing, you should never underestimate marketing’s potential to be doing even more to bring new sales to your business. Let's examine why it's so important to continue promoting your company on an ongoing basis, and the activities that you should be engaging in.

Marketing is a fast-moving sector and the way in which marketers work changes frequently due to the appearance of new trends. If you want to make the most of your budget, you'll need to use the latest marketing methods. While none of the trends making waves in marketing this year are brand new, we expect to see the following trends develop and grow in importance over the next 12 months:

LinkedIn is a fantastic, business-focused social network, and all companies – of any size and in any sector – should be taking it seriously. Unlike the other big social media platforms, LinkedIn was set up purely for business networking. LinkedIn users are therefore more receptive to marketing messages and the potential for connecting with new suppliers. There is also less generic, or non-business related content to contend with. It is, therefore, an excellent place to reach out to your target customers and start bringing in leads. Here’s how you can get your brand out there on LinkedIn and start building a really strong online presence.