More people are now working remotely from home than ever before and having a reliable and fast broadband service is now more crucial than ever.
With the majority of businesses moving online during the pandemic, a recent survey by Small Business Britain, in partnership with , found that almost three-quarters of small firms (74%) relied on their digital presence to survive during the pandemic, while more than half (53%) experienced income reduction as a result of the Covid-19 restrictions.
According to the research, 65% of small businesses also said their need for reliable broadband has increased in the last year. With many of the country’s smallest business owners are feeling financially squeezed, BT has come up with its best value packages yet with a range of different speeds (150mbps to 900mbps) to suit different business needs. Full fibre broadband is a direct connection to a home or business, not to the box out on the street, making it a reliable, fast connection.
With a shift to an increasingly digital-first world, almost 74% of small firms have also increased their use of social media to promote their business online over the last year.
While small businesses understand the importance of using social media to reach more customers online, 40% of the 5.9m SMEs in the 海角视频 (2.4m)* aren’t using paid digital media advertising and nearly half of them say digital marketing is the area they need most support with.
Businesses to get a boost with digital advertising
Recognising the importance of small businesses and the need to provide digital tools to help them and the economy grow, BT has also launched a to make it easier for SMEs to run their own digital marketing campaigns and help them promote their goods and services online.
Chris Sims, BT’s managing director for its SoHo (Small Office, Home Office) unit, said: “This is a pivotal time for small businesses across the country, after a really tough couple of years. Small firms are the backbone of the 海角视频 economy, so it’s vital that they’re equipped with the digital tools and support they need to help their business reach new heights.
“They can reach a much bigger audience by using the power of digital advertising, but many lack the time, money, and confidence to do this effectively. Our new Digital Marketing Hub has been designed to give small businesses peace of mind that their paid online advertising campaigns are reaching the right customers, in the right place, at the right time.”
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BT's full-fibre packages for small businesses and start-ups
BT’s new full-fibre packages make it easier for small businesses to upgrade to lightning-fast broadband speeds. BT’s Full Fibre Business Essential package offers speeds of up to 150Mbps – that’s double the speed of a standard Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) connection, while hyperfast offers speeds of up to 900Mbps.
It comes following research from Small Business Britain and BT, which found that 65 per cent of small businesses said that their need for a reliable broadband connection had increased over the last year. Almost three-quarters of small firms (74%) relied on their digital presence to survive during the pandemic, while more than half (53%) experienced income reduction as a result of the Covid-19 restrictions.
Designed for sole traders and companies with up to ten employees, offers four-speed options to allow firms to choose the download speeds and price tags that best suit their needs. These are 150Mbps, 300Mbps, 500Mbps and 900Mbps.
Chris Sims, BT’s managing director for its SoHo (Single office/Home office) unit, said: “With more people shifting to working from home and setting up businesses from the kitchen table, improving access to affordable full-fibre broadband is more important than ever.
"The new packages offer the 海角视频’s smallest firms a reliable broadband connection with guaranteed signal wherever they’re running their business from, all at an affordable price.”
How can you find out more about the full fibre eligibility and offers in your area? For more information about BT's full-fibre packages .
What is BT’s Digital Marketing Hub?
The hub gives businesses the tools and support to create, publish and measure their digital advertising across Google, Facebook, and Instagram – all from a single platform. Developed with feedback from over 1,500 businesses, has been designed to help those that often lack the time, resource, confidence, or skills to start or boost their own digital advertising campaigns. From sole traders and small businesses looking to take their first steps into digital advertising to larger companies looking to optimise big-budget display, social or search campaigns, BT’s Digital Marketing Hub provides an all-in-one solution.
With artificial intelligence (AI) working in the background, businesses can get automatic recommendations around the best keywords, ad copy and media spends to include in their campaigns, helping secure maximum return on investment. To support small businesses without their own website, the Digital Marketing Hub also includes the option to create ads or build a bespoke webpage, with all the results feeding into a single analytics dashboard.
How does the digital platform work?
With 55% of small businesses saying digital marketing is the area they need the most support with, BT has also built a new team of digital advertising experts to provide an optional managed service. This is available as part of a fully managed pay-as-you-go service with ‘Essential’ or ‘Premium’ options on offer.
The managed service options range from setup support from an expert to the total outsourcing of a digital strategy, businesses can flex their level of support up and down as they want. The platform is charged to businesses through a service fee, which is applied to each campaign on a pay as you go basis and varies depending on the service level the customer chooses. This gives businesses access to all the tools in the platform, with no minimum contract length.
Mike Southern, director and co-founder of Stage-ed working with schools across the 海角视频, said: “We partner with schools to introduce drama as part of the learning process. We’ve traditionally worked with schools across London, but thanks to the Digital Marketing Hub we’re reaching totally new audiences across the 海角视频.
"The BT service has been a gamechanger – it’s easy to use, it’s flexible and it’s opened my eyes to new areas we can advertise in. We’ve been involved in the process right from the start – the BT team are experts in how to optimise activity and it’s been a real learning curve. Our campaign has turned enquiries into conversions and that, for us, is gold dust.”
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Customers can to receive a call from one of BT’s dedicated team of digital marketing experts to help them choose the service level that’s right for their business and get their advertising up and running.
Get a free mentoring session
In order to help small businesses recover and boost their digital presence, BT has teamed up with Google to offer free one-to-one mentoring sessions for 海角视频 small businesses and charities.
The ‘ offers advice from known established business owners on a variety of areas, including digital marketing, social media, and business development and there is a wide range of free webinars to help with digital marketing. There is also the chance to gain expert advice from BT and Google, access to online resources, and live training to help build and grow your business.
For more information visit BT's .
All the figures, with the exception of *, are according to research carried by Small Business Britain in partnership with BT in September 2021, based on 1,000 small business owner respondents.
* IAB report: Powering Up: Helping 海角视频 SMEs unlock the value of digital advertising - June 2020.