Marketing UpdatesTeam Newsbest-bits-pick-and-mix

Here are some of our best achievements to date, both for our clients and as a business!

 

February 2020

February has been all about getting social- in both senses of the word! From hosting two sell-out first-time events in York and spending quality time together in the team to achieving excellent social media campaign results. Here’s what happened last month…

 

Tuesday Social

Our first-ever very own networking event, Tuesday Social, was a storming success! We sold-out ahead of time and had fabulous feedback on the social media updates and networking opportunities that we provided. Here are some of our attendees comments as posted on LinkedIn:

 

“Fantastic event team Pick & Mix, well done for pulling such a great crowd for your first event – can’t wait for the next one ?” Michelle Mook

 

“Thanks for a great event this morning – loved the quiz …, especially as our table won ? And great to meet familiar faces as well as making some new connections.  Thank you Pick & Mix Marketing” Nicki Campbell

 

“Thank you for a very informative event! Looking forward to the next one!” Anna Ma’aye

 

“Kick-off event was a real testament to the strong, credible, enthusiastic customer base and network that Pick & Mix Marketing has built locally.” David Harper

 

You can see the full post with comments here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6632990021471215617

 

The event, which we host in the beautiful Bedern Hall at the centre of York, gives you the opportunity to learn what’s new on social media and take away some tips for making the best of your business’ profiles. With an exciting variety of people in attendance, it’s also a great chance to make new contacts in York.

 

Here’s Jess at the helm…

 

 

 

 

Our next Tuesday Social will be taking place on 5th May. For details and to book your place (before we sell out again), please click here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tuesday-social-tickets-93047145517

 

Customers, Content & Social Media Workshop

Our second sell-out event was our brand-new workshop in collaboration with Rebecca Mason from the Social Media Tree. Designed to firstly help you identify ideal customers and then plan and create social media content that will excite them, the workshop made a big difference to this lovely group of delegates.

 

Customers, Content & Social Media Workshop York

 

We’re looking forward to running this session again on 19th May. If you’d like to join us, please book your place here… 

 

Flippin’ challenge

It just so happened that our Customers, Content & Social Media Workshop coincided with Shrove Tuesday- talk about making the most of national days for content inspiration!

 

Our workshop delegates were excellent sports and gave a good flip for their money in pursuit of the title of pancake champion.

 

Flippin Challenge

 

None could top our very own Sally Parker though, she scored a whopping 53 pancake flips in 60 seconds!! We had to ask ourselves how that was even possible, but then we did witness it with our own eyes. And so can you, click here… 

 

Pizza treat

Speaking of food, we enjoyed a pizza lunch together courtesy of Luigi’s here in Poppleton. The perfect treat to celebrate a very busy and successful start to 2020!

 

Pizza treat

 

Social media results

As always, we’ve been keeping busy with creating successful social media content for our management clients in between getting out and about in York. Some of our standout stats this month:

 

  • We directed over 1092 users through to the website of a new property development in York via social media.
  • We generated the highest ever Facebook post reach for multiple clients including reaching 100k people with a budget of £100 for a financial firm.
  • We reached over 50k people with paid Facebook ads for a hospitality client with a budget of just £50!

 

Think we might be able to help you with managing your social media profiles? Find out more about how we do this here:

Social media training

We enjoyed giving an overview talk on social media for Visit York members and look forward to seeing their profiles build in visibility over the coming months as a result.

Visit York Training

 

We also delivered a bespoke individual training programme for a client which allowed them to gain exactly the insights they needed for marketing their business. If you would like more specific help with your social media, please drop us a line at info@pickandmixms.co.uk. You can find more info here.

 

If you have any questions or would like to find out more about how we can help you with social media management, training or ads, please email info@pickandmixms.co.uk.

 

January 2020

New year, new you? How about new year, consistent you? Consistency is after all key to social media. This January, we haven’t pledged to be wildly different. Instead, we’ve strived to keep building on the knowledge, experience and creativity we bring to social media marketing. That said, there are still some exciting plans in store…

 

We doubled our Sians!

A year on from Siân dG, we’ve officially welcomed Sian B. That’s right! Half of our fab team of four is now called Sian. There must be something in the name… Read more about Sian B here.

 

Pick and Mix Marketing Sian

 

We supported staple events in the city of York

The ever-popular residents festival returned to York this month and both Jess and Sian B enjoyed getting out and about to see what our city has to offer. Jess also had an insightful day at the Visit York Conference, VYCON where she learnt more about York’s thriving tourism sector.

 

Visit York Conference

 

 

We delivered social media workshops and one to ones

Back at the office, Jess has been inspiring budding Instagram users on how to use the fastest growing platform for the benefit of their business. From IGTV to stories and stickers, there’s plenty to keep up to date with. Missed this one? You can book onto our next session here.

 

Instagram Training

Sally has trained 4 companies in 1:1 sessions this month where she’s shared her years of experience in that little bit more detail than our standard workshops to suit specific circumstances.

 

We stepped up our LinkedIn training

Siân dG was very excited to design and deliver bespoke in-house training sessions for clients in London and York. In these sessions, she shared her insight of how to forge a successful inbound and outbound marketing strategy on the platform rather than simply sell, sell, sell. Read more about it on her LinkedIn post here.

 

LinkedIn training

 

We started getting ready for Tuesday social

We’re launching our own networking event, have you heard?! Tuesday social lands on 11th February from 10am at Bedern Hall in central York. It promises to be a fantastic opportunity to meet some different people with a whole range of backgrounds (looking at the current guest list!). We’ll also all be there to share our social media insights, predictions and tips. So you can go on to make your own mark on your business’ social media. Book here!

 

Tuesday Social

 

December 2019

In the run-up to Christmas, we’ve been blaring out Mince Pie FM in the office (thanks Minster FM!) and enjoying the festivities. That’s not to say we’ve been slacking though- here are some of our highlights from this month.

 

Truly engaging content

 

We’ve been delighted to see our social media content achieving clients’ objectives- and more! Siân’s Facebook ads for Bedern have been ranking above average for relevance and quality. Nowadays, these are important metrics to consider for paid advertising. We’re hoping to hear that the venue has some wonderous weddings booked in the new year.

 

Our LinkedIn strategy for Hudson Quarter, York’s new residential and commercial development, has been paying off. We’ve seen over 2,500 impressions from just two unpaid posts this month- an important part of building their brand awareness. Jess also enjoyed taking part in the iconic Topping Out ceremony as the highest beam is now in place.

HQ Topping OutHudson Quarter York

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, we’ve been planning something inspiring for our own Pick & Mix Marketing profiles in January that you won’t want to miss. Over 10 days, we’ll be revealing our expert insights in exclusive challenges that YOU can get involved with! Make sure you’re following us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, so you’re ready to maximise the potential of your profiles.

 

Top training sessions

 

Sally shared her years of marketing expertise with Harper 360 in a bespoke content planning session recently. We look forward to seeing this put into practice!

 

We’re also planning LinkedIn training sessions for two national clients in the new year. The potential and popularity of the business to business platform continues to grow and grow.

 

Christmas merriment and fundraising

 

We very much enjoyed opening our office doors for Christmas Jumper Day in aid of Save the Children- we raised £30! Thanks to all those who came and joined us. Here’s a snap of the team…

Christmas jumper day

Mince pies

On the very same night, we treated ourselves to a delicious meal at Gusto and a night out at Alistair Griffin’s Christmas concert in the Belfry. Here we are mid-carol-singing!

 

Christmas concert

Pick & Mix, the office elves on the shelves, have been keeping a close eye on us too- have you seen our Instagram? Make sure you take a look for a giggle!

 

New workshops and events coming in 2020

 

We’re super excited to have launched our brand-new workshop: Customers, Content & Social Media. This January, we’ll be sharing with you how we plan social media marketing in such a way that reaches customers and resonates with them. We’re giving you an exclusive insight into how we do things strategically and professionally. Joining us for this workshop is the fantastic Rebecca Mason from the Social Media Tree! Secure your place here… 

Rebecca Mason, the Social Media Tree

 

As if our workshop wasn’t enough, we also announced TUESDAY SOCIAL- York’s newest networking event. Come 11th February, you will not only have the opportunity to meet like-minded people in the city but also get the lowdown on what’s happening with social media. With new contacts and new ideas to improve your business’ social media- you won’t want to miss it! Book here…

Tuesday Social

 

A very merry Christmas to all! We wish you a restful and joyful festive break.

 

November 2019

Remember, remember the WHOLE of November! The month has been full of sparklers for us, from growing our team to getting out and about at networking events in York. We’ve seen stunning social media results too!

 

Welcoming a new team member

We’ve recruited a new team member! With her wealth of admin experience, she’ll certainly keep us all efficient and organised. All will be revealed in the new year…

 

Developing our skills

Jess completed her first aid training- well done!

 

We’ve also had the pleasure of having Diane Mason from DMM training and development join us. Diane has been supporting us with our personal development and we’re looking forward to putting what we’ve learnt into practice.

 

Advertising reaching ideal audiences

We’ve seen great success from our recent paid advertising campaigns. Jess, with her paid social prowess, managed to get the cost per result for a health & wellbeing client down to £0.003!

 

Siân DG has seen traffic flying through to the Hudson Quarter website. Her Facebook ads meant that social media was the number one driver of new website visitors during November.

Hudson Quarter

 

Black Friday and beyond

Sally has put her years of marketing experience to good use in a multi-channel campaign across web, social media, email and SMS for a retail client. She’s also created some sparkling new videos in collaboration with the fabulous Beetroot Box. They’ve been viewed thousands of times!

 

Sharing social media expertise

We always love opening our doors to clients who’d like to learn how to run successful social media campaigns themselves. In November, we trained on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. We’re confident that our social media trainees will be able to put our social media secrets to good use. You can secure some of them for your business and achieve your marketing goals. Book here…

 

Social media workshops

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

September 2019

From selling sandwiches with Facebook to supporting a Sheffield bar and nightclub with their launch across social media, we’ve turned our hand to a range of industries this month. Our underlying strength, as usual, has been helping businesses find their ideal customers with social media and generating engagement online!

 

Social media training

Our training clients this September ranged from a sandwich shop from York city centre to a coaching and development company. Siân thoroughly enjoyed sharing her knowledge of LinkedIn in tailored one to ones and Instagram and since the training it’s been fantastic to see the clients’ quality posts appearing in our feeds!

facebook_training_york LinkedIn_training_york

 

Venue launch

How do you attract freshers to a young and trendy club launch? Facebook and Instagram! We collaborated with a promotional company to create a buzz around the hottest nights out in Sheffield. For the first event, we generated 260 guestlist sign ups and secured 1,300 attendees which meant one busy club, and one happy client!

launch_event

 

Brand awareness on Facebook

It’s not just young people’s hangouts that are suitable for a social media campaign. We’ve helped a 19th century coaching inn in the Yorkshire Dales be seen on Facebook 20,000 times! Their loyal audience of food-lovers and ale-drinkers keeps growing and growing thanks to our posting strategy on Facebook.

 

Boosted website traffic

An ongoing management client who we’ve been partnering with for many years is continuing to see an increase in website traffic every month. This is fantastic, and from the look of their growing list of enquiries, is helping their business to thrive. We write clever blog posts to raise the profile of their different venues, introduce the team and contribute to much-needed SEO.

 

Preparing for Christmas

The festive season comes early in marketing! We’ve helped create a Christmas leaflet and a booking page on their website for a Yorkshire pub. With yuletide visitors securing their tables and rooms, they’d better get the Christmas pudding made!

 

Networking

As ever, we’ve all been out and about meeting fellow Yorkshire businesses this month. . Jess ran a very successful event for Make York’s 10th birthday which gained 100 sign ups and a room full of people happy to be networking and socialising in the city. Siân attended a thought-provoking session on negotiating at Women in Tech and Sally was pleased to return to York Professionals for their September event!

Pick_and_mix_marketing

 

Has something sparked your imagination? If you’d like to chat to us about how we can help you find your ideal customers, please get in touch on 01904 863 511 or email info@pickandmixms.co.uk

 

 

August 2019

It may have been summer, but we were still kept in full swing here at Pick & Mix Marketing!

 

Yorkshire Day

 

We said “Ey Up!” to August from the very first day of the month. Siân and Jess recorded a very special “guide to speaking Yorkshire” to celebrate Yorkshire day. As a southern softy, Siân recognised about half of the strange northern slang words that Jess selected (not including “nithered” or “beefin!”). See the full video here!

We put together a complete campaign including an email newsletter and themed social media posts- did you see these? What did you think?

Yorkshire_day

Content Plans

August seemed to be the month of content plans- we created a number of detailed documents outlining our clients’ customer groups, key messages, recommended platforms, tone of voice and posting strategies. From a luxury fitness centre, to a business support company, each one involved extensive research, analysis and creativity before putting together our recommendations.

Content_planning

Social media reach

Beyond planning, our ongoing social media management has generated a great return for our clients. One post for an equine client saw an organic reach of 141,836 on Facebook and generated so many orders that they had to order more products! We’ve also had incredible success with paid post engagement adverts across Facevook and Instagram – one particular client who’s posts used to receive tens of likes have seen hundreds of engagements on Instagram. We’ll be developing this strategy in the coming months.

 

Facebook Training

We were delighted to help a retail client learn how to use Facebook to market their shop. We uncovered the mysteries of adverts, insights and scheduling so they can see a better return on the time spent posting. We also helped an online retail customer understand how to create custom and lookalike audiences to make the most of their advertising spend online and to reach the right people for their product!

social_media_training_york

 

Website build

We wrote the copy and collaborated with a developer to bring together an exciting new website for a drinks company. This client returned to us after a successful previous website launch!

 

Interested in any of these projects? We’d love to chat more with you about how we could do something similar for you. Please call us on 01904 863 511 or email info@pickandmixms.co.uk

 

 

 

 

July 2019

 

From York Maze to amazing new opportunities for every one of the team, July has been a blast for Pick & Mix Marketing!

 

York Maze

We’ve gone all out this month of a number of special themed campaigns and seen some great results. Sally made the most of National Lipstick Day at Browns Department Stores by taking an incredible number of photos and videos with their staff and posting their favourite shades. Across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, the posts were seen over 50,000 times!

Jess generated over 10,600 post engagements for a Yorkshire Estate Agent with just £25 ad budget.

 

Siân ran a campaign for Carol Saunders’ Swim School to promote one of their team’s involvement in a charity triathlon and helped him raise a considerable amount for charity. The swim school also got more traffic through to their website from social media than ever before. Their posts for this month reached over 50,000 people.

 

And, we’ve been working hard on our own campaigns as well. Sally’s Marketing Matters vlog is going strong with lively discussions taking place on LinkedIn, and Siân made her very own video debut for World Emoji Day. Catch them on camera here…

Marketing Matters

 

Sally lead a Twitter workshop at Visit York with Siân’s help. Our fellow Visit York members gained a beginner’s insight into the microblogging platform and posted their very first tweets!

 

Jess helped a brand-new client plan for their upcoming shop launch while training on Facebook and Instagram for business.

 

Siân supported a veterinary client with the launch and rebrand of their website by publicising engaging posts on their LinkedIn profile. Many veterinary professionals have subsequently come through to their site and gained brand awareness.

Website launch

Jess ran a highly successful and much-talked-about launch event for the Moxy Hotel on Stonebow. The party is still hot on everyone’s lips and not just because it took place on the warmest day of the year! Moxy gained coverage from influencers, bloggers, local news and radio as a result.

 

Jess also ran a fantastic launch event for Northwood Fairy Trail- the first-ever Fairy Trail in the UK! We recommend a visit if you’re in the area.

 

Jago joined us for a week of work experience and we were very grateful for his help with auditing our clients’ social media profiles and scheduling posts. One of his favourite tasks was visiting Browns Department Store in York to seek our some fashionable items of menswear. We wish him all the best in the future!

Jago

Last but not least, Sally took part in a radio interview with BBC Radio York- a great new opportunity and she was delighted to be asked to share her experience.

 

We’re looking ahead to a wide range of workshops in the next few months. If you’re looking to understand a bit more about Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter then it would be great to have you join us- please book your place here…

 

We’re also opening our doors to nearby businesses in Poppleton for a special neighbours workshop. If you’re in the area, please drop in…

 

 

June 2019

June has been the start of a new chapter for us here at Pick & Mix Marketing- we moved office to Poppleton! All the while, we continued to develop our clients’ marketing campaigns, strategies and knowledge with our usual enthusiasm. Sally, Jess and Siân also attended some fantastic events in and around York.

 

Moving into our new office

 

We closed the door on our Fulford office with fond memories of the last 8 years. Sally built up Pick & Mix Marketing by working closely with businesses on Bishy Road and the surrounding area. Nonetheless, we’re excited to move into our new Poppleton premises and hope our bigger training space will suit our clients as much as us!

 

 

 

 

Exciting new projects

Moving office was not our only journey this month. We won a contract with the fabulous Northwood Fairy Trail- a brand new family attraction on the outskirts of York. We’re hoping to add a touch of marketing magic to their upcoming launch.

 

Northwood Trail

Siân completed a thoroughly detailed 12 month LinkedIn strategy for the UK’s leading provider of mobile imaging services for the veterinary sector. With such a complex industry and niche service to understand, she spent time interviewing the team and drilling down on precisely which types of content were needed to engage their customer groups. Sally followed up with a LinkedIn training session at their Preston office.

 

Successful training sessions 

Jess lead training sessions on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter this month for clients including an estate agent, financial services client and a local wedding and event venue.

 

You can find out more about our training sessions here

 

 

Compelling content

We’re thrilled to have been managing social media for Hudson Quarter in the run-up to their launch. Jess has been partnering closely with the marketing team and Siân has been working on targeted social media posts with a distinctive tone of voice for their luxury branding.

Hudson Quarter Brand  Hudson Quarter Launch  

This close attention has paid off. Over the last month, we have seen 2389 visits to their website compared with 369 in May. LinkedIn post impressions are up 307% and our Facebook adverts have sent 678 people through to the website. Social media is now Hudson Quarter’s biggest driver of website traffic.

 

By constantly adjusting our Facebook and Twitter tact to keep up with algorithm changes and updates, we’ve reached 21,870 for a hospitality client. We’ve also gained an engagement rate above 10% on a Facebook post for a York venue.

 

And we’ve had success with LinkedIn too. Our personal fitness client has gained nearly 70 new connections in this month alone. Social media has generated half of all of their website traffic.

 

PR for promoting good causes

Our long-term client, Browns Department Store, appeared on the Society Page of Yorkshire Living Magazine, which was a fantastic way to celebrate their inspiring fashion show in support of Breast Cancer Care once again. Thanks to Shelly Mantovani from F Stop Photography for the photos and video work.

 

Yorkshire LivingYorkshire Living

 

Engaging Events

We were delighted to be shortlisted as a finalist for Tourism Supplier of the Year and enjoyed a team night out at the Visit York tourism awards in the National Railway Museum. Despite not walking away with a gong, we congratulate York Gin on their well-deserved success, as well as all the other winners. It was certainly tough competition! It must be said that our friends at Cut and Chase and Minster FM were great company!

 

 

 

Jess enjoyed a day of networking that included Bedern Breakfast and First Thursday. Hearing from Andy at Ainsty Ales was very inspiring. She called on the launch event of new craft beer & pizza restaurant, Tank & Paddle.

Bedern Breakfast

Jess also organised her first event with networking group Make-York, and a record 60 people attended! If you’d like to join their upcoming Summer Soiree at Market Cat, click here: http://www.make-york.com/make-yorks-10th-anniversary-on-12th-september-2019-at-tank-paddle/

 

Make-York

Siân was pleased to attend her first Guild of Entrepreneurs event with insightful talks on running a B2B agency from Karen Tinkler from Partners, Sarah Cowl from the Rainbow Mash, Michael Ripon from Raindrop and Brannan Coady from Netsells. She also enjoyed the first-anniversary celebration of York Women in Tech.

 

Guild of Entrepreneurs

Sally came away with a confidence boost after hearing from Jackie Crawford Image Consultant and Dominic Colenso of In Flow Training at York Professionals’ recent event.

 

Whether you’re looking for social media strategy, support with publicity events or expertly-written online content, we’d love to help you. Please get in touch by emailing info@pickandmixms.co.uk or calling 01904 863 511.

 

May 2019

We may have had the bank holiday weekends, but this month has been one of the busiest here at Pick & Mix Marketing. From training to social media management to networking, find out what we’ve been getting up to recently…

 

As ever, we’ve been keen to get out into the York community- especially when it means meeting other like-minded business women! Jess attended York Women Mean Business’ recent gathering at the Doubletree by Hilton. Meanwhile, Siân joined York Women in Tech for an insightful evening talking about mental health. It was great to hear from Alyson Scott at York Mind about the importance of emptying your stress bucket!

 

Jess met over 50 other local businesses at the ever popular First Thursday and was inspired by Andy from Ainsty Ales’ talk at Bedern Hall’s Bedern Breakfast.

Bedern Breakfast

 

 

We’ve also had success on the networking social media platform- LinkedIn! Siân secured 3 new customers for a photography client through prospecting with Sales Navigator and she has significantly grown the client’s network with relevant prospects. Sally’s not shy of the camera either. She’s shared more episodes of her Marketing Matters vlog on her personal profile. Be sure to give it a watch by connecting with her or visiting our YouTube channel here:

 

“We love all the girls at Pick & Mix!! They are all so helpful and obliging and nothing is ever a problem, we would highly recommend them.”

Kate Stephenson, Mark Stephensons Estate Agents

 

Siân’s launched the first campaign for a new veterinary client and has been working on a 12-month social media strategy.

 

Jess has delivered 2 LinkedIn workshops and we’re keeping up to date with all the latest updates including a new range of “reactions” to replace the simple “like” button.

 

“Great LinkedIn Training workshop led by Jessica from Pick & Mix Marketing Really enjoyed the interactive element and picked up useful tips for my own and business LinkedIn pages. Would recommend the 2 hour training to anyone who wants to improve their LinkedIn profile and learn more about how to use it successfully, I’ll be booking on the Instagram training course soon too! Good to network with Amanda Taylor and Sally Duffin during the workshop too!”

Sarah, Crombie Wilkinson

 

 

It’s not just LinkedIn we’ve been training on. Jess has run sessions on social media strategy and Twitter too. Jess was pleased to help York’s first cat café- The Cat’s Whiskers. She also trained a York Estate Agent in-house.

 

“I finally got around to going on a course hosted by Pick & Mix Marketing, why didn’t I do this sooner! Jessica Valenghi did a superb job delivering the Linkedin course. Some really useful tips and how to make LinkedIn work for you and your company.”

Amanda Taylor, Eko Create – LinkedIn workshop

 

Moving onto Facebook, Siân published and shared a blog post for Carol Saunders’ Swim School that generated 104 website visits, 55 being new visitors. We believe this has contributed to the 17 Facebook message enquiries, which is an increase of over 40% from this month last year.

 

Facebook marketing

Jess has generated a 944% increase in reach in the first month of SMM a gym client. She and Siân have also steadily been building up reach for a new luxury development in York.

 

Social Media was the top acquisition channel for a Yorkshire Estate Agent this month, sending 1,331 people to their website compared with 45 back in February.

 

Sally lead a social media campaign followed by a website banner and blog for a retail client that saw 20 people book in for a make-over. She also ran a cosmetics advert that achieved over 380,000 impressions.

 

“Sally and her team have looked after numerous online marketing campaigns for me over the years, always working to tight deadlines and giving a great service.”

Phil Pearce, Buzz Web Design

 

We worked on a 25th business anniversary blog for a client who celebrated at an event at Bettys in York.

 

Not forgetting how traditional marketing needs to accompany social, Sally completed a 16-page Furniture & Bed Sale Brochure which will be distributed to over 50k homes in the York area.

 

Sally created a birthday campaign email for a retail customer which generated a 30% open rate.

 

We’ve been thinking carefully about how we can improve our own business too. We had a very enjoyable day out with Pro-Development, discussing our vision for Pick & Mix Marketing. Now, we’re in closely in tune with our values- Together, Honest, Ambitious and Inspiring.

Team values

 

We’re excited to announce we’ve also signed the lease on a new office! That’s right, we’re on the move. More details to follow, keep in the loop…

 

Aaaand, we’ve had a new photoshoot with the fabulous Olivia Brabbs! Here’s a sneak peak…

 

Team photo

 

Want to talk social media marketing, strategy or training? Give us a call on 01904 863 511 or email info@pickandmixms.co.uk.

 

April 2019

Ah April. There was the warm Easter weekend, the beautiful cherry blossom all over York and business blooming for us here at Pick & Mix Marketing.

 

We got off to a fantastic start to the month with the news that we’d be chosen as a finalist in Visit York Tourism Awards 2019! We’re delighted to have been recognised in spite of strong competition from York Gin, Pyper York and Biffa. We believe this is because we champion independent businesses in the city and give them the marketing support to meet their budget.

 

Our friends at Cut & Chase were also shortlisted for Pub or Bar of the year! We were pleased to help them put their award entry together and think they should certainly celebrate with one of those fabulous cocktails they’re famous for!

 

You can read the full list of finalists here.

 

Jess received this fantastic feedback from a training client, who she helped get to grips with their Instagram and Facebook:

“Very helpful company offering a wide range of experience and knowledge in marketing and use of social media platforms. We will definitely be using Pick and Mix Marketing again!!”

By the way, if you’d like to join one of our upcoming social media workshops, you can do so here.

 

 

 

 

 

Sally met with a number of new clients, each with very specialist niches, and advised them on the best strategy to take with their social media.

 

We branched out of social media to develop a new brand and website for the Carlton Inn Pub. Siân worked up quite an appetite writing all the copy to describe their hearty pub grub! Thanks to Phil from Buzz Website Design and Matt from Fusion Creative Digital, Print and Branding for helping us with this.

Speaking of country inns, The Blue Lion in East Witton received 11 glowing recommendations during April. Facebook works as a fantastic platform for them to spread the word about their delicious food and surroundings.

 

We’ve worked closely with a food-waste-reducing app over the last year or so and we’re very excited to be bringing it to launch soon with a social media countdown.

 

Keeping up to date with the most efficient processes and technologies, we’ve made the move over to Hubspot to manage our clients’ records. Siân completed her Inbound Marketing certification before joining our team so is excited to put Hubspot’s forward-thinking Attract, Engage, Delight philosophy into practice.

 

That said, sometimes it’s better to go back in time! Siân’s been working closely with Bedern Hall to share their fascinating history. Did you know that just off of Goodramgate is a stunning Medieval dining room once used by singers at York Minster? You can read her blog post here.

 

 

She’s also fired up Bedern’s Twitter with some conversation-starting tweets. Stoking a debate over how to say “scone” gave them over 6,000 organic impressions and the post lasted days. Usually, tweets stay in the feed for just 18 minutes!

 

Jess gained 25,000 impressions from a £25 advert for a Yorkshire estate agent. That’s a great value return of just 10p per lead!

 

We’ve also kept up the good work on Browns’ social media. Organic posts about their cosmetics reached over 2000 people each time.

 

Sally’s been meeting with York’s Women in Business. She attended a fabulous event at the Ivy, which was a great opportunity to network and catch up.

 

Jess has also been networking. She enjoyed the Conference and Hospitality Show in Leeds and is keen to work with new clients in one of her favourite industries.

 

 

In amongst all that work, Sally took a well-earned break in beautiful Northumberland. Well, we say break… she completed 100K steps in a week!

 

Siân and Jess also celebrated their birthdays and the whole team enjoyed a delicious meal at the Press Kitchen.

 

Looking forward, we’ll be working on a new website for a fashion client, leading lots more training sessions throughout the summer and giving ongoing support for social media strategies.

 

If you’d like any help with your social media marketing, please get in touch on 01904 863 511 or email info@pickandmixms.co.uk.

March 2019

 

March has been the month of engagement for the team at Pick and Mix Marketing. We’re proud of our well-performing social media posts but we’re also delighted to have helped promote real-life engagement through a number of fantastic events.

 

Bedern Hall, a stunning medieval venue in the centre of York, held their annual pancake race at the start of the month. We whipped up a storm on social media with posts that brought the businesses of Goodramgate together. Eventually it was Raffi’s Spice Box that flipped across the finish line first. The event gained press coverage from Minster FM, York Mix and Visit York through just one organic tweet! Jess thoroughly enjoyed watching the race unfold.

 

 

Taking to Twitter again at the end of the month, we sparked a linguistic debate about just what to call the alleyway leading to Bedern Hall. Over the course of a weekend, followers argued over ginnels, snickets and snickleways generating over 10,000 organic impressions and 650 engagements. This has more than doubled Bedern’s profile views for the month.

 

It’s not just Bedern Hall who have been making impressions this March. We managed a Facebook competition for Yorkshire country inn, the Blue Lion. For the chance to win a pawfect break for two plus dog, 315 people commented on the post and it reached 5,300 Facebook users.

 

By writing Facebook posts with the audience of Browns Department Stores in mind, we helped them reach 67,564 customers. We maintained our consistent service of monitoring the posts out of office hours so commenters were responded to quickly and gained a positive impression of the brand.

 

Perhaps our biggest highlight of March has been supporting Browns with their Moving Forward with Fashion show as part of York Fashion Week. Ladies who’ve lived with, through or beyond cancer took to the catwalk in this heart-warming event. We were pleased to sell over half of the tickets through social media and share pictures of the models in celebration after the evening. Over £1000 was raised for Breast Cancer Care.

 

 

Also for York Fashion Week, we supported Browns’ Feel-Good Fashion Fiesta with style guru, Jackie Crawford and illustrators, Chloe and Abigail Baldwin at Buttercrumble. Working with these partners on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, we created a buzz around this special collaboration.

 

We’ve had success in the food and drink sector too. We completed a long-term project with drinks manufacturer, Clearly Drinks Ltd, to develop the website for their latest product. Together, we finished the site in time for their launch and our clients are very pleased.

 

We all love a hearty pub meal and a walk in the countryside so we’re delighted to be working with a new hospitality client in rural North Yorkshire.

 

We’re also delighted to have taken on a new client in the legal sector and are pleased to help get the word out to their customers about their later-life services.

 

Jess attended the annual Visit York Tourism Centre evening and met with the new MD, Sean Bullick. It was brilliant to chat with fellow Visit York members.

 

Jess also went along to our financial clients’ professional seminar. Keeping in touch with the latest industry news in this way helps us to write relevant and up to date marketing content.

 

Using LinkedIn, we started conversations with a number of promising leads on behalf of a photography client and opened up the opportunity to quote 2 new customers.

 

We’ve booked in a number of new clients for our social media training sessions and are looking forward to helping them this April.

 

We are really excited to keep producing content that helps local businesses with their marketing. Sally’s Marketing Matters vlog is well underway and Siân has had great fun putting together our Egg-cellent Social Media Insight Trail in time for Easter! Take a look here to discover where to find important information on your Facebook business page.

 

 

 

 

February 2019

The evenings are getting lighter, the weather’s a little warmer and we’ve a spring in our step as we head into March. February has been a fantastic month for the team- read on to find out why.

 

We received this fabulous feedback from Ardent, a York-based firm of financial advisors:

“We have been with working with Sally and Jess over the past 4 months now and have found them to be consummate professionals who are full of great practical thoughts and ideas.  They have really taken the time to understand our business and needs, and have produced and implemented an excellent marketing strategy that we are seeing the direct benefits from already.  I am really to be happy to be working with them and envisage doing so for the foreseeable future.”

Mark Fisher, Director

Ardent were also featured in the “Society” pages of Living Magazine.

 

 

For Chinese New Year, we wrote a press release for a popular York restaurant to promote their festivities. Siân loved reliving her time in Asia while attending the photoshoot and was pleased to see the restaurant featured on page 5 of the York Press.

 

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, we launched a cheeky “Valentine’s Banger” social media campaign for M&K Butchers on Bishy Road. Posting photos of their special sausage on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram sold 20 in store and got them a mention on Minster FM and live interview. Sizzling results!

 

We went all out on social media for Browns Department Store. A customer Valentine’s competition gained 136 comments and reached over 4,000 people. We got staff involved by asking them to share their favourite gift ideas and make-up looks. These posts really won the people of Facebook’s hearts and we reached over 77,000 people!

 

We’re also delighted to be supporting Browns with their Moving Forward with Fashion event in aid of Breast Cancer Care and are helping them sell tickets.

 

Staying on the fashion theme, we created a brand new Facebook shop for Design by Hummingbird. Within the first week, 6 orders came through and lots of sales have been generated.

 

We passed on over 35 prospect enquiries for Carol Saunders Swimming School, meaning lots of new little swimmers are taking to the pool!

 

New clients have signed up for our bespoke training sessions and we’re looking forward to sprucing up their social media.

 

We’ve also secured a number of new marketing clients from legal, creative and property industries as well as a charity.

 

Jess was motivated by an inspirational “I Can” workshop with Richard McCann.

 

Jess and Siân also enjoying networking with other young York professionals at Make York’s event at VJ’s art bar.

 

 

Sally has posted her first Marketing Matters vlog as promised and looks forward to sharing more expert insights with local businesses in this form.

 

Looking ahead to March, we’ve been helping Bedern Hall promote their Goodramgate Pancake Day Race. Following our Twitter post, Bedern were interviewed on Minster FM and the event will be covered too. The tweet also generated 23 likes, 15 retweets and reach over 6,000 people organically. We can’t wait for what will be a flippin’ fantastic race!

 

That’s all for now! If you’ve seen something that’s sparked your interest, then please get in touch with us on 01904 863511.

 

January 2019

 

We’ve had sun, frost, snow, wind, rain and minus temperatures this January! Throughout all of these extremes though, we’ve continued to provide a fantastic service to our clients, attract new business and enjoy York Residents Festival. PLUS we’ve welcomed a new team member!

 

Siân de Groot has joined the team after completing a master’s degree in linguistics with a focus on online communication. She has also worked for a year in Hong Kong as an Editor and English Tutor.  Siân therefore brings technical language expertise, which will enable us to develop our copywriting and online content. When Siân’s not working, you will find her dancing the Lindy Hop, playing the flute or cooking for friends.

 

Along with all this excitement we are delighted to announce that we’ve won a contract to run the social media campaign for a prestigious property development that is under way in York….watch this space!

 

We’ve developed a lovely Valentine’s campaign for a retail client, which involves social media, blogging, email and SMS marketing. We’re already seeing great results from a fun Facebook competition and we’ll being sharing our complete outcomes soon.

 

We’re celebrating Valentine’s in a different form by supporting a local butcher to create a special Valentine’s Sausage! Watch out for that one!

 

Also, we’ve had some super press coverage for two very different sectors. A hospitality client has been covered locally and an article for a financial specialist has been published in a national title!

 

We’ve trained some amazing clients this month who have already gone on to see fantastic results from their improved marketing strategies. Working one to one, we have showed them how to use social media to increase awareness of their businesses. With this advice and an actionable plan in place, they’re able to use social media as a marketing channel that really makes a difference!

 

Sally ran a social media workshop for Ebor Vale Riding for the Disabled as part of our 7thbirthday celebrations. They, along with our other charity partners, now have a much clearer idea of how they can use social media for good.

 

It’s not just our clients that are learning. We’re all enthusiastically developing our filming and editing techniques so we can produce video content that reflects current trends. Sally has started creating her very own Marketing Matters vlog, which you’ll see popping up in your LinkedIn and Facebook feed soon!

 

Jess attended the Visit York annual tourism conference at the Knavesmire where she heard from some inspirational speakers including Signe Jungersted, Director of Development from Wonderful Copenhagen, Simon Eyles, MD of Betty’s and both the Head of Global PR and Head of Influencer Marketing from Visit Britain and Visit England!

 

Jess has also joined the Make-York board as their resident “marketing guru” so make sure you watch out for their events this year! It’s a great networking group for young professionals in York and a great way to meet new businesses!

 

And last but not least ……….we’ve become a member of Visit York. This comes with a vast array of benefits but we’re most looking forward to connecting and meeting lots of business owners and managers in York.

 

 

In 2018 we…

We had a very festive Christmas, with a day out at the pantomime and lots of lovely food and drink from local businesses!

  

 

We celebrated our 7th birthday by providing 7 local York based charities free social media/marketing training sessions

York_Mind   

 

Took part in 6 client photoshoots for new websites, branding projects, lifestyle Editorial and “society” pages

    

 

We trained 25 new clients on how to use social media for business

  

 

We project managed 6 new website builds

 

We gained PR coverage in local and national media outlets including, print, online, TV and radio!

  

We managed and over-achieved a Crowd Funding Campaign

We attended plenty of client and new business meetings…from York, to Beverley, to Leeds…
   

We attending Awards ceremonies on behalf of clients as well as on behalf of ourselves!

  

We took time to invest in our professional development by attending CPD events with the CIM and attending workshops

    

We promoted events and gained sell-out attendance

  

We gained some FANTASTIC feedback from clients and welcomed over 120 new incoming enquiries

We worked on and delivered Marketing Strategies, Social Media Strategies, Social Media Audits and Content Plans for various different business sectors

 

We achieved some great results across social media for clients

In 2017 we…..

 

We celebrated our 6th Birthday!

We’ve seen one of our fabulous clients Skosh gain local and national PR coverage including a review from the renowned food critic Jay Raynor – you can read it here. 

We ran a marketing campaign which saw a 47% increase in sales year on year for one client.

We’ve provided social media training to lots of clients helping them achieve results for their businesses.

We worked with our client to develop their existing brand, website and create a bespoke brochure.

We generated a reach of over 118,000 thousand people on an organic Facebook post for one client.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We celebrated with Jess as she completed the Great North Run with her partner Tom raising over £500 for York Mind

We’ve raised money for Save the Children #Christmasjumperday

We achieved 71 competition entries and a reach of 5,400 people from one organic post by encouraging users to engage with the Facebook content.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We donated £250.00 to St Leonard’s Hospice in memory of loved ones.

We achieved a reach of nearly 14,000 people from one organic LinkedIn post for one client.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We became ‘award-winning’ in November 2017 when we won the ‘Great Achievements!’ award at York Women Mean Business!

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We managed to secure a 4-page spread in the Yorkshire Post for one client in November 2017.

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We celebrated Pick & Mix’s 6th Birthday in October 2017 where we headed to Dyls in York to enjoy a glass of fizz or 2!

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We managed to reach over 14,000 people from one organic post by encouraging users to engage with the Facebook content, this in turn increases your reach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We managed to grow one of our clients Facebook pages by 400% in just 7 days by creating exciting, relevant content to help get them noticed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were nominated for an award in the UK Blog Awards!

For one of our clients, we received 27 incoming enquiries through their Facebook platform in just one month, showing how important it is to have a presence on social media as your customers can communicate with you quickly and easily.