Social Matters and Natters

Podcasts. There are so many out there, and not enough time to listen to them all. I absolutely love a good podcast, it used to be something I enjoyed during a commute, but not it's on an exercise bike or whilst I'm at the allotment. Personally, I cannot listen to a podcast whilst working - I end up typing out what they are saying, disaster! I did a little survey on LinkedIn about what people listen to at work and it really got people talking! It was surprising to me, but of the 58 people who responded 33% preferred to work in silence rather than any form of background noise. Radio and Spotify both scored 29%, with people enjoying some background noise, especially when working from home.  Podcast Recommendations Recently I have listened to a few great podcasts and thought I would share: Girls in Marketing Recently discovered this as a pure fluke when looking for something else. I've not listened to many episodes yet, but so far it's been interesting. If you're starti...

Okay, so I am two days late. In my defence I did write this on October 3rd, but I was too busy to publish oops. How is it October already?! I don't know about you, but September went by in a blur. We went on our honeymoon, lots of other things have happened and suddenly here we are in October. This is my favourite month. Autumn arrives, we cosy down, Pumpkin Spiced Lattes are here and I turn another year older. For me, this month is all about focusing on my personal development. I've decided I really need to invest in myself - sounds selfish, but it my own interpretation and others will definitely benefit from it! By investing in myself I mean time for R&R, catching up with friends, time to exercise, all alongside some personal development. Maybe I am just waffling on, but it makes sense to me! Do you take time to reflect and focus on yourself? How do you focus? Let's chat! Comment, connect  on  LinkedIn   or   follow me on Twitter . Disclaimer: This blog does no...

Why hello there! It's been over two years since my last post on here, and my goodness a lot has happened in that time. Let's get reacquainted! Hi, I'm Helen 👋 I work in marketing, love being a social butterfly and am a self-confessed crazy cat lady. The past two years have been so tough with lockdowns, getting used to WFH and all the other things we had to adapt to. There's so much to catch up on from the "missed year", but now is the time! So the main change over the past couple of years is that I got married, exciting! Honestly the best day ever. I'm not going to bore you with all the details but my goodness what a day with my new husband! In March 2020, we took on an allotment plot. So much fun. We've completed our first crop rotation - potatoes, onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and beans. I cannot explain how much I love it, getting some fresh air and seeing all our hard work grow is so rewarding. It's time to start the next lot of veggies soon and...

We get bombarded with marketing and advertising every single day across multiple channels. There's arguments for and against each of these platforms and the ROI. However, in this blog post I am focusing into the effectiveness of personalising the key marketing message. We are looking at going beyond the personalisation of "Hey Helen" to much deeper understanding of your customer's buying trends, interests and hobbies. Do they prefer cats or dogs? Which brands are they connecting with? When was the last time they shopped with you? Data is king... To achieve effective and successful personalised campaigns you'll need a comprehensive CRM and data set. Here, data really is king! Of course you can collate data in a B2C environment with loyalty cards/store points and you are on to a winner for personalisation. This enables you to analyse buying patterns, shopping habits and much more. Birthday offers, anniversary offers, you name it! If you think about it, it...

Following on from my 'Beating the January Blues' blog, I thought it was time to revisit how we all look after our mental health. For some reason this still seems to carry a stigma and be a bit of a taboo subject. All of us need to look after out own health and be aware of everyone around us too.  I asked my social media connections what they do to look after their mental health both in and out of the workplace, and here's what they said... In the workplace - Confide in someone you trust/work friend - Take the time to talk - Move away from the desk to make a cuppa or go for a walk Outside the workplace - Exercise, the main choices were running or going for a long walk - Getting outside to enjoy the fresh air - Meditation - Writing a journal For me, I focus very much on talking to my friends. We have a great understanding of how important it is to take the time to talk to each other, and listen to everything no matter how trivial. Working together to sort anyt...

When we look at marketing, depending on the size of the company you may not have a huge budget, or indeed a budget at all. I've put together a few top tips of "free" marketing activities you can trial for your company. Not saying these are going to work and have hundreds of leads knocking on your door, but maybe it will help in some way. 1. Social media - your new best friend Setting up social media pages is free, you can build your audience, get social by interacting and BINGO! Build your brand awareness, contact list and promote your products and services - all for free! Plus you can utilise a platform like Hootsuite to schedule posts. 2. Press releases - Read all about it! If you don't have an in-house PR team or access to a PR agency why not write your own press releases? This can be fairly time consuming but it's great brand exposure. Start with the local press and then work up to trade. Granted, this only works a couple of times before they want you to...

March 8th is International Women's Day, time to celebrate women all over the world (which should be done every day anyway!) The official theme this year is #BalanceforBetter. I am a huge believer in equality and balance so this day is a big passion for me! Plus... this years charity of choice is The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (If you don't already know I run a Girl Guides group). Whilst we focus on equality we also need women to support each other and encourage one another. It's so important. If Meangirls taught us anything it's that we need to be promoting each other, so everyone else follows suit. Stand tall and stand up for what you believe in!  As a side note, today is also the day I will be listening to Beyonce on repeat. Do not disturb.  Shout out time: To all the lovely ladies in my life, those who I am close to, those who I am never met in person, and those I haven't seen for years. You are all amazing and rocking it. I am so...

Within the media and marketing world, PR can be a powerhouse for getting your brand seen (preferably for the right reasons!). Whilst the ROI can be a challenge to show to the finance team, the brand exposure is worth it's weight in gold. Recently I've worked on one piece of press which has snowballed, leading to additional radio, TV and press interviews and exposure. It's amazing what one good story can lead to! Getting PR right has such a significant impact on the success of the piece. By picking up on 'hot' industry topics, offering opinion and advice you've got the perfect recipe. Plus, by getting your release into reputable industry press the exposure for your brand is great!  How do you find PR? Do you work with an agency? Share your top tips and let me know! Disclaimer: This blog does not represent the opinions of my employers.

A few days ago I got tagged by The Beauty Type in a 5 things post, so here goes with mine. Depending on how well we know each other & how long you've followed my blogs some of these may or may not be news to you! Come on then, let's get to know me... 1. Volunteering in my spare time... I run a Girl Guides group in a local village which I love doing. It's a lot of hard work and responsibility but very rewarding. It's great to see the girls develop new skills, learn new things and have a great time away from social media etc. We do lots of exciting trips, activities, weekends away and much more. They even teach me a thing or two - definitely learnt all about slime, squidgees and flossing from them! 2. I have a cat called Monty... So if we are connected on any form of social media this one isn't a surprise... but just look at him! Those eyes! He lives with my mum and dad because he needs to be outside. Also, my sister will hate me for sayin...

Christmas and New Years seem like a distant memory. We're all back at work and back into the daily routines. With the colder weather on it's way, coupled with dark mornings and nights, it's safe to say the January blues are here. With all the excitement of Christmas over, lots of people experience the ol' January blues and I am definitely one of them! To help combat the blues, here's what I am doing this year to keep upbeat: - Exercise & fitness: check out the RED campaign being run by mind charity. I’ve been to the gym, for walks and running. Aiming to get my fitness levels back up! - Downtime - phone down: Phones are the best and also the worst. I’ve started to put my phone down and I’m reading instead. Good for the soul!  - Holiday planning: Always fun in January to have something for to look forward to and plan for! - Hydrate: Drinking lots of water is working well for me to keep my hydration levels up! Plus I’m doing dry January! In preparing...

Welcome to 2019. Hello, hello. I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years! Not sure about you but I am so ready for whatever 2019 has to offer. Today I have been busy planning content for the Social Matters & Natters blog. Plus I am hoping that this year I might get my website up and running again. Exciting times ahead, maybe.  Hopefully the blog will continue to explore different areas of marketing, hot topics and trends, with a few life updates thrown in for good measure.  Here's to 2019. A great year for us all. Thank you for continuing to read Social Matters & Natters!  x Disclaimer: This blog does not reflect the thoughts and opinions of my employer. 

So 2018 is coming to a close and what a year it has been! Definitely had some highs and lows this year, and I am feeling very determined to achieve a lot in 2019. 2018 has seen several holidays being enjoyed, organising a hen do, three weddings, weekends with family and friends… Oh and we bought a house! What a year. On reflection I’ve crammed a lot in! Now it’s time to look forward to 2019, which will be here before we know it. Each year I like to set myself a few goals to achieve, rather than setting New Years Resolutions. Alongside these I want to tick a few more things off my 30 before 30 list (time is running out!) 2019 Goals, hopes & dreams: Get fit – 2019 is definitely a fitness year, lose a bit of weight, run more and feel good about myself Get saving – Having bought a house in 2018 it’s time to get saving again Time to myself – Weekends are usually packed full of things whether it’s seeing friends or going here there and everywhere. Next year I nee...

If you've been following my blog for over 12 months you will know I love to do a little review of Christmas adverts each year. December is here, the ads are out. So here we go for 2018.... John Lewis Let's start with the biggie. Not going to lie, I was a little underwhelmed this year... For me, it's not the Coca-Cola lorry that starts off Christmas, its the much-awaited John Lewis advert! Don't get me wrong, the message is sweet and Elton John is amazing, but bring back Monty and Mable! Aldi Kevin the Carrot is back! I like that they've returned with Kevin, building on the story and appealing to the whole family. Plus with references to other retailer ads along the way! Iceland Now, either the marcomms team are super duper clever, or this was pure fluke... The 'banned' ad telling the story of an Orangutan has received more views and publicity than any other Christmas advert. Well played Iceland, well played. An emotional, current and powerful messag...

So I have got my degree and established my career, but there is always time to keep on investing in yourself more and more. This is all part of my 30 before 30 list, so it's pretty open to interpretation, but I have a small list of what I want to do and achieve, and how to do this. This is my focus for next year: Additional qualifications, training and skill building - at the moment I'm not too sure what this will be, but I am definitely going to get something organised for 2019. I absolutely love learning and expanding my knowledge.  Time to myself & time with my family, friends and partner - We spend more time at work than we do with those we love, so I am going to make more time to see everyone. Looking after my mental health - Technology plays a big part in this, spending time away from my laptop and phone to enjoy other things in life. Also not comparing myself to others. In a digital age it can be tricky! Doing more of what I enjoy - I love to read, blog and ...

This month I'm going to be another year older and another year wiser. It's been a very busy year for me, with a lot of changes and I've definitely learnt a lot! We're buying our first house together, which ticks one thing off my 30 before 30 list! But it's been the biggest learning curve for me. Coupled with that, I have also learnt a lot about myself, my capabilities and skills, my weaknesses, and expanded my marketing knowledge further. Anyway, with all of this going on it got me thinking about what advice I would now give to my younger self. Always easy with the benefit of hindsight... Learn more about mortgages and finance If I could do this all again I would have prepared myself slightly more so that the jargon wasn't so overwhelming! Save, save, save It's hard when you're younger to see the long term benefits of saving, instead wanting to go out, go on holidays etc. but it's 100% worth popping a little of your payday happiness into your ...

So I haven't blogged since March... where has the time gone?! Life is so busy, but so good, and sadly my blog has taken the backseat in it all! Hello again, if anyone is still there? I have just published a marketing blog, so thought I would follow it up with a personal one to catch you up with everything that's going on too. Life is good, life is busy. We are in the process of making some big decisions in the Chick-King household... watch this space. And what is with this heat? I LOVE IT. Summery nights, Gin, warmth. So good. Not enjoying the sleepless nights though, so we purchased a fan. Top notch choice. We've recently been to Sardinia for a week of sun, cocktails and to chill. Best week! Work hard, but definitely need a week/few days here and there to just switch off, relax and come back refreshed. It allows time to put everything into perspective and focus on family. Highly recommended. Whilst on my holibobs I read an incredible book called #GIRLBOSS by Sophia A...

This has cropped up in conversation several times over the past few months so I figured it was time to blog about it! The question of whether marketing is a marathon or a sprint is an age old question where the answer remains the same.  Certain elements of marketing fall into each of these.... with many factors having to be taken into account. The best results can be seen as a mixture of activities that deliver both quick and quality results. SEO is a marathon and requires attention, care and dedication. The climb up the pages can take a while, plus algorithms change. A so-called 'quick fix' would be to use PPC - higher cost but a quick result. Other elements to focus on include brand awareness, however this is dependant on how established the brand is. It can take time for brand awareness to come into fruition - again depending on the competition levels and industry etc. I could waffle on about all the varieties and what if scenarios, but I think you've got the gis...

What a hot topic! It's taken me a while to decide on the angle of this blog post - what to talk about, who to include etc. With the on-going media coverage on subjects like the MeToo campaign and pay equality, there's so much to talk about and focus on this International Women's Day 2018. Now for those of you who don't know me, I am a big believer in gender equality and supporting woman in business, especially working mothers and the stigma of pregnancy in the workplace. The theme of IWD 2018 is #pressforprogress - with gender equality at the heart of the campaign. Find out more here.  Anyway, back to today and this post... I've decided to take the opportunity to celebrate the women in my life. They inspire, encourage, support and drive me. Family - Mum, My sister, My Aunts, Second Family, In-laws. Everyone single one of these ladies have influenced me in one way or another. Friends - The girls. My therapists, holder of all the secrets. They've stuck wit...

GALENTINE'S DAY is here!  For those of you who are thinking "What....?" let me fill you in with the 411. February 13th is now known as Galentine's day - a concept born from the AMAZING Parks and Recreations (watch the clip here ) To quote Leslie Knope Galentine's Day is " ladies celebrating ladies " and it's "only the best day of the year". And you know what... I agree! I became aware of this concept last year and loved it... I spent 2017 with my best bud having dinner and drinks, a lovely chilled evening. And this year I've sent my Galentine's Day card to my gal pals. More and more companies are jumping on the trend and I've already seen so many posts from retailers such as Lush, Benefit, New Look and Miss Selfridge... Well done to their marketing teams for picking up on one of the hottest trends for February 2018. It's no lie that Valentine's Day has become more and more commercialised in recent years and...

It's getting to that time of year where students will be looking for a placement year as part of their degree. The pressure will be on, with the continual questions from everyone of "How's the job hunt going?" and "Have you got any interviews yet?". I've been there, done that, got the t-shirt. As if your second year at uni isn't hard enough without finding the time to do all of this too! The message here is twofold. To all students reading this: carry on with your search!! Don't give up looking... it's the best thing I ever did! My search carried on and I didn't secure a placement until the June to start in the July!! It's so worth it though and you can do it! Just set aside an hour or so each day to send those applications. And be open-minded about what you are applying for, you never know where it might lead! Then we come to employers - hello! Now some of you won't have entertained the thought of employing an int...