Chloe Hall, PR and digital marketing consultant at North Shields-based Bumble & Bloom Media, explains why the business should win the marketing and PR category of the Guardian Small Business Showcase competition.
I strive to inspire my clients with affordable, resourceful and creative ideas, so I decided to host a one-off business-to-business “Blooming Marvellous” PR and marketing workshop aimed at business owners across the north-east of England.
I showed my guests how simple it can be to create their own bespoke PR and marketing strategy for their business. To add a little flair and sense of my own personality to my workshop, and to enhance the customer experience, I designed my own menus to detail the day’s running order, which I gave out on the day. I also placed business cards in little plant pots on the tables and added flower arrangements in jam jars – complete with picnic blanket-style napkins as place mats, to make the idea of marketing more fun and visual. It was inexpensive to create, but I loved the opportunity to be creative with marketing in an affordable and resourceful way – and my guests loved it! They snapped so many photos to share on social media it became its very own organic social media campaign.
The first event was such as success in terms of customer demand that I had a waiting list and ended up hosting another workshop for 35 people two weeks later. I’ve also had five new clients, immediate bookings for one-to-one follow-up workshops, and recently I’ve been headhunted to host an event at Alnwick Garden with special guest Michelle Mone – all thanks to my workshops.
All entries which meet the competition criteria are published and our judging panel select a shortlist of the three for each category. Winners are announced at an awards ceremony in summer 2016.
