Marketing support for SMEs
Get your business infront of the right people
Empower, up-skill & optimise your team
Get more from your marketing budget
Why outsource your marketing?
Access to expertise
I live and breathe marketing, day-in and day-out, so I know what works and what doesn’t. That benefit of hindsight thing… it’s priceless.
Cost effective
How much would it cost you to recruit this amount of talent to your business? I can bet it would be significantly more than hiring The Design Grove.
Get back to your day job
If you’re considering outsourcing your marketing, the chances are it’s not your fortay. So you get back to doing what you love and I will take care of what I love!
Flexible and scalable support
Dip in and out and use me as often as you like. If you have a particular need or campaign I can be on hand as and when needed.
Tech and tools
Marketing related software is not cheap, but I have plenty of subscriptions that you will indirectly benefit from.
A fresh pair of eyes
If you always do the same things, you’ll always get the same results. How about getting a fresh perspective on your marketing challenges?
Your marketing lifeline!
Do you want to carry out your marketing with the benefit of hindsight? Do you want to do this without having to break the bank with expensive agency fees? The Design Grove isn’t an agency, it’s your outsourced marketing department, providing marketing support for SMEs since 2005!
Hi, I’m Gillian, a marketing professional with over 20 years industry marketing experience!
Over the years I’ve worked in a huge range of industries. Rail, aerospace, pharmaceutical, ink manufacturing, cosmetics, healthcare, medical, electronic engineering, the list goes on and on.
In 2019 I made the decision to leave employment and set up my own business, The Design Grove, to provide freelance marketing support for SMEs and I’ve never looked back!
I can help your business to fulfil its marketing goals with a great value, flexible marketing support service. Find out more by booking a meeting.
Outsourced Marketing Support
If you’re thinking about outsourcing your marketing, there are a number of ways I can help. From one off projects such as a website overhaul, to an ongoing monthly retainer, I work with you to define your goals, set out your plans and agree on an affordable and manageable solution for your business.
But first, strategy!
Before I start working on any project, I always carry out a discovery session to fully understand your business and your goals. This can range from a simple meeting, to a full marketing strategy workshop. We typically discuss the following:
Marketing Audit
We look at where you are now, the things you need to do, and what you want to achieve.
Competitor Audit
We look to those that have gone before you to learn and guide our thinking.
Client Avatar
We create a ‘client avatar’ – something that will guide your communications.
Messaging
We define what your key messages are, and your content plan.
Brand
We dive into why your business exists and define your vision, mission & values.
A marketing strategy workshop and full marketing planning session is £660 and is included in all website, social media & content creation packages.
Branding
Whether you have a logo you’d like to refresh or you have nothing to work with at all, I can help. With an initial short chat about your needs, I will go away and create some initial logo concepts. You can choose one concept that you’d like to evolve and further options will be provided. One set of amends is included before I package up your chosen logo into its various file formats. I provide a brand guide, outlining fonts, colours and icons as appropriate.
Social Media Management
My social media package starts with a strategy workshop so that I can get to know your business, pull together a content marketing plan & create your brand identity for social media. This includes profile banners and post graphic templates.
Once the foundations are set, I then delve into the detail and create your first month’s content according to your needs. My packages are priced based on the number of posts, profiles and platforms that you want to use. Typically it costs £200 for 1 post a week on 1 profile.
Search Engine Optimisation
Getting you found on the search engines takes a mixture of website optimisation and ongoing content creation. My package typically includes:
- Marketing strategy workshop with focus on SEO
- Enhancing the performance of your website
- Improving the customer experience and navigation
- Optimising the content that you currently have
- Creating new and engaging content
This is an ongoing managed service that typically requires a 6 month investment (at least) before we start to see a return on investment. It is a long-term marketing activity, not short-term.
Website Development
Your website is at the heart of your marketing activity and it needs to support the impression that you’re trying to create. It needs to contain all the information that your customers need to make a decision and it needs to have the right balance of sales messaging to help increase those conversions.
Whether you have an existing site that needs work, or you have nothing at all, I can help. We’ll go through your marketing strategy workshop, create a plan for your website and begin working on your concept designs.
Once you sign off your concepts, there’s no going back as I launch into full scale production mode. Giving you opportunity to feedback along the way before pressing the launch button.
Design for print
Whilst there is less demand for print these days, there are still occasions where it can be useful. A well timed DM campaign, some professional brochure work or a pop up for an expo, whatever you need, I can sort it for you.
Support for your team
If you’re not looking for someone to physically do your marketing for you but you still need some direction, my marketing mentor package is just for you.
Whether you have an employee you’d like to upskill, or a team that needs accountability and guidance, my marketing mentor package allows you to have the benefit of 20 years of marketing hindsight and an experienced marketer at your disposal.
With a mixture of planning and review meetings, your team will achieve more, learn on the job and help your business grow faster.
Marketing Mentor
Ideal if you need accountability and marketing knowledge to power your work.
What you’ll get from better marketing
A first impression that converts to RFQs
With better visibility comes more opportunity to quote for jobs. We’ll look at your quote process too and optimise this.
Better content = better engagement
With refined messaging, you should see your audience start to engage with your content.
Make progress in the search engines
There are no promises in the wonderful world of Google, but many of our clients see massive improvements in their rankings.
More opportunities to do business
You’re out there, you’re making noise and you’re getting noticed, you will start to see opportunities everywhere.
Maximise your marketing budget
You’ll undoubtedly feel like the time, money and effort you’re spending is being put to better use.
A more engaged team
If we work with your team, we upskill and inspire them by showing them the impact of their work. And your wider team gain a sense of pride.
Don’t just take my word for it
Shaun Sidebottom
After months of struggling I decided to ask Gillian for help and I wish I’d asked sooner. She has been amazing, patient and her knowledge is truly remarkable.
Fiona Norbury
I have never met a person more dedicated to making good things happen for her clients. Hugely talented, highly personable and very thoughtful, you won’t regret hiring Gillian for your outsourced marketing.
Kate Thorpe
Love The Design Grove, they did a fabulous job for me of marketing a new offering. The graphics were brilliant, the messaging on point and the whole look and feel was very professional.
Sarah Cardwell
The brand workshop I had with The Design Grove has honestly been one of the best investments for my business. If you’re looking for branding and don’t know where to start, start with Gillian.
Sarah Cooper
Branding and Canva expert! I decided to treat myself to a branding workshop and wow was I glad I did. Gillian is a genius at pulling out all your key messages and helping you find clarity in the fog.
Tommy Walsh
When it comes to communicating an idea or a vision, there is no one better than Gillian, period.
We are so glad we found you.
Sarah Edge, Rugged Data
