‘The pandemic meant I had to reinvent my business – now advertising on MailOnline is helping my company grow’: One entrepreneur on how he’s coming back STRONGER

Entrepreneurs poised to launch customer-facing businesses have been hit tremendously hard by the pandemic.

Those who were able to were forced to quickly pivot their services online, while others have been forced to put their dreams on hold.

Tony Atherton, 48, an SME business coach, launched ADA Leadership, in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, just a month before lockdown in March 2020.

‘I work with small business leaders to help companies develop their capabilities in understanding their biggest asset – their people,’ he said.

Tony Atherton, of ADA Leadership, says the lockdowns had a dramatic effect on his business

‘When the pandemic hit, it meant everything I was going to do person to person went online, so I had to completely reinvent the business.

‘I’m not the most tech-savvy person, but it’s meant that I’ve learned a great deal, and I’ve used digital technology to my advantage.’

While Tony’s global clients were consistent throughout multiple lockdowns, he found the smaller, more local firms had also been forced to close their doors, meaning that side of his business was slow to start.

‘The businesses I wanted to help were also slowing down. But what I offer – which includes helping companies to understand how they invest in their people when they come back from furlough – is more important than ever.’

Now, with the end of lockdown hopefully getting closer, more businesses are focused firmly on the future; looking to raise brand awareness as well as their customer base.

To help SMEs bounce back, MailOnline has launched its new Ad Manager advertising platform.

It’s a cost-effective way of offering entrepreneurs the chance to showcase their brand to MailOnline’s huge audiences, without a hefty price tag.

THE RESULTS:

Cost: £3958.24

Ad impressions (how many times the ads were viewed): 1,041,654

Website traffic up more than 15% a day

‘Ad Manager is really simple to use and the team are fantastic. My web traffic has rocketed – and I’ve been really impressed by the variety of enquiries.’

As well as being easy to use, Ad Manager puts the entrepreneur firmly in control, allowing you to target specific audiences, location and even interest. And a campaign can be created in minutes – and can be live within 24 hours.

Tony was among the first entrepreneurs in the country to try the new platform – with outstanding results.

He booked a seven-day campaign, which was live in just 24 hours, using the new Ad Manager platform, and saw his web traffic ‘rocket’.

He created the ads himself, set the budget and chose the people he wanted to target.

‘I’m not so technically capable, but I have to say the Ad Manager system works really well. It’s got a really useful dashboard that tells me exactly how many impressions I’m getting – and it links up to my website’s dashboard.

‘The number of visits to my site has rocketed, which is incredible – it’s up to 15 times more clicks a day.

‘And the awareness of my company has increased 500%. I’ve had multiple email enquiries and phone calls, and I’ve been really impressed by the variety – I’ve had senior people in larger organisations reach out who I wouldn’t have connected to using my traditional methods.

‘I’ve also had small and medium-sized businesses, who I know I can help, get in touch too. It’s opened more doors than I could have using traditional methods.

‘I’m so pleased I took the plunge. It’s a fabulous team, that are only a phone call away, which made a huge difference.’

Tony says setting up the ads in Ad Manager was easy to do, and the results easy to access

HOW AD MANAGER WORKS

The new self-serve Ad Manager is enabling small businesses to reach more adults across all UK regions than ever before. It’s easy to use, and takes just minutes to set up – meaning your campaign could be live in less than 24 hours.

Offering hyper-local advertising for relevant, affluent customers, Ad Manager allows businesses to advertise to more people in local areas that local titles can reach.

What’s more, you can target customers by postcode, interests and life stage, ensuring you reach as many of our 25 million consumers as you choose.

There are no hidden fees and you can control everything, from budget to target and audience to creative design.

Click here to see how you could help YOUR business GROW! 

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