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North Yorkshire cycle hub up for top tourism award

22 Mar 2024

Rob Brown, co-director of Dalby Forest Cycle Hub, a not-for-profit hire scheme has been nominated for the Tourism Superstar 2024 award, run by VisitEngland.
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Independent retail bodies welcome new report aimed at tackling retail crime.

21 Mar 2024

ACS (The Association of Convenience Stores) and the Federation of Independent Retailers (The Fed) have both welcomed a new report published by the Association of Police and Crime... Read more…

Indie retailers outperformed supermarkets in sales of organic food, wellness and beauty products in 2023.

21 Mar 2024

As reported by Healthstores UK, new data contained in the 2024 Soil Association Organic Market report shows that independent retailers delivered an impressive 10% growth in 2023, with... Read more…

Cheltenham beer shop and bar wins top UK award.

21 Mar 2024

An independent bottle shop and bar in Cheltenham has been named as the UK's Independent Beer and Wine Retailer of the Year 2024 at the Drinks Retailing Awards. 
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Welsh Government Announce £20m Future Proofing Fund for Retail Businesses in Wales

21 Mar 2024

A number of organisations, including Bira (the British Independent Retailers’ Association), other trade associations, BIDs and unions have met with officials from the Welsh Government to... Read more…

High Street Faces 'Unprecedented Challenges' says Trade Association

21 Mar 2024

The British Independent Retailers’ Association (Bira) has reacted to data released by PwC and the Local Data Company exploring the state of the UK retail landscape.
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Greeting Card Association expresses concern on new evidence Royal Mail prioritising parcel deliveries over letters.

6 Mar 2024

The Greeting Card Association has reacted to a BBC Panorama programme lifting the lid on Royal Mail management prioritising parcel delivery over letters, which it says are in contradiction of... Read more…

Kate Bush named as Record Store Day ambassador.

4 Mar 2024

Pop star Kate Bush has been announced as an ambassador for this year's Record Store Day, on 20 April.
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Shortlist for Independent Bookshop of the Year 2024 revealed.

4 Mar 2024

The British Book Awards has announced its shortlist for Independent Bookshop of the Year. 
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Local Bike Shop Day 2024 confirmed for Saturday May 4th.

4 Mar 2024

The ACT is happy to confirm the date for Local Bike Shop Day 2024 as Saturday 4 May, the weekend of the early May Bank Holiday.
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Social media tips from indie businesses who have successfully diversified their proposition

Posted on in Business News, Cycles News

very week Maybe* bring you social media tactics and top tips to drive your social media strategy forwards.

They introduce you to real life businesses like The Find in Cheltenham and Bourton-on-the-Water photographer, Alistair Currill. Both these businesses are independents which are growing using social media. Here we give you their social media tips so you can learn from and replicate their success using new techniques. 

 

Communicate, communicate, communicate

The Find Coffee House and Artisan Kitchen in Cheltenham is run by David Orme and his team. Offering a haven from the outside world, The Find takes its inspiration from the coffee houses of 17th and 18th century England. Lockdown gave The Find an opportunity to take stock, literally, of everything from their menu and staffing through to social media and the cafe is now using Instagram and Facebook to ‘welcome back' the people of Cheltenham as well as to keep them informed.

"Using social media for continuous updates and information has been key and will continue to be as we re-open. People cannot be expected to keep up with all of the changes and the rules and therefore we created a linktree link on our Instagram account with a list of the rules, menus and other key information so that they can always find what they are looking for easily." says David at The Find.

Top tip: communication. Never assume customers know as much as we do about restrictions. Share all of your reopening safety information in a linktree or highlights. Customers shared the pain of the lockdown with us, let them know, what you're doing, stay on top and they will embrace what you do. Comms is key.

 

How lockdown has helped businesses find new audiences

Alastair Currill is a Bourton-on-the-Water based professional photographer and has been running his company Alastair Currill Photography for around six years in the Cotswolds.

Alastair has long been active on social media to promote his photography work and also his teaching. But lockdown has forced him out in front of the camera as he has taken to Facebook Live to bring to life his top photography tips.

During Lockdown 1 all of the weddings Alastair had booked were cancelled and, due to restrictions, he struggled to do the majority of the work he had planned for the rest of 2020. Rather than resting on his laurels he set up Cotswold Jigsaw Puzzles as a new arm to his business - turning beautiful photography of landscape and animals from around the area into jigsaws for customers locally and even internationally. This helped to keep the main business afloat until lockdown ended.

Alastair believes that even if you were forced to develop a new element to your business out of necessity during lockdown, you can capitalise on this and through social media create a whole new audience.

Using social media Alastair promotes his beautiful puzzles and photography through Facebook communities. Using hashtags on Instagram, tagging in local places - his business has done well.

Top tip: If you created a new service or product in lockdown, don't ditch it upon reopening, look at how you can capitalise on a whole new audience you have created on Instagram or Facebook using the Maybe* platform.

 

With the Maybe* platform, you don't have to be a social media pro to increase traffic and sales. 

Sign up to Maybe* and join the conversation, it's free to get started.

 

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