Fatrank Podcast

James Dooley: If you're a company based in Warrington within Cheshire and you're looking to grow in 2026, what different digital marketing strategies should you be using to get more customers or more enquiries? Should you be teaming up with an SEO agency based in Warrington, a PPC agency based in Warrington, or a lead generation company that can generate enquiries for a Warrington based business? What are the best strategies you should be using to achieve that growth? Before we start looking at how much you should be spending on digital marketing, Kazra, what advice would you give to business owners who are based in Warrington specifically in 2026?

Kasra Dash: For Warrington based businesses, the number one issue I see time and time again is that they do not have a predictable system in place. You should set up KPIs before spending any money on digital marketing. These KPIs will protect your budget and give you a clear understanding of performance. A few things you should track include how much money you are spending across each marketing channel. For example, you might be spending £1,000 on PPC, £6,000 on SEO and £3,000 on social media advertising. Once you know those numbers, the next step is to track how many leads each channel generates. After that, you need to know the contact rate for those leads. For instance, if SEO generates ten leads and eight of them are contactable, while PPC generates ten leads but only five respond, that tells you something important about lead quality. The final thing you should measure is how many of those contacted leads actually turn into paying customers. Once you have all of those numbers in place, digital marketing becomes much more predictable and easier to scale.

Kasra Dash: James, what would be the first digital marketing strategy you would recommend for a Warrington based business?

James Dooley: The first step has to be branding or brand SEO and making sure your business looks good online with a strong reputation. Everything should start with a positive brand SERP. A SERP stands for search engine results page. It is what people see when they search your business name in Google. Getting your branding right across the board helps with every other marketing activity. It can improve conversion rates on paid ads and social media because people often search your business before deciding who to work with. Branding is the foundation of any successful digital marketing strategy.

James Dooley: The next strategy is AI visibility. More companies are beginning to focus on this area. What do platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok and Perplexity say about your business? Are the results positive or negative? You should also analyse what those platforms say about your competitors and find ways to improve your own visibility. Some people call this AI SEO. Others call it GEO or LLM optimisation. Regardless of the name, it will be an important part of digital marketing in 2026 and beyond.

Kasra Dash: AI visibility is definitely something businesses need to consider as more people use artificial intelligence tools for research. The next strategy is using companies like FatRank or Promo SEO. These companies offer commission based lead generation services for UK businesses looking to grow. It is still important to run your own digital marketing campaigns, but outsourcing part of the lead generation process gives you diversification. You can go to fatrank.com and fill in the form to see whether they can provide a no risk supply of enquiries. Promo SEO offers a similar performance based lead generation service. It can be useful to work with a third party company that can top up your enquiries and help grow your business in 2026.

Kasra Dash: Another strategy is Google Business Profiles, also known as Google Maps listings. This is essentially local SEO where you focus on building your business profile and increasing reviews in your local area. There are pros and cons to this approach. The biggest advantage is that once your listing ranks well, it can generate leads consistently. The challenge is that if you are starting from scratch and your competitors already have dozens of reviews, you have a gap to close. Reviews usually come from existing customers, so it can become a chicken and egg situation. Even so, it is still valuable for brand visibility and local trust.

James Dooley: If you operate locally, you definitely want to appear in Google Maps results. Businesses should aim to be omnichannel and visible across multiple platforms. Another key strategy is organic SEO. This means building a website that ranks well in search engines. If you operate in a specific area, you can create service pages targeting those locations. For example, a plumber in Manchester might create a page targeting plumbing in Manchester. You can also produce blog content answering common questions people search for online. The goal is to create high quality content, build topical authority and earn backlinks from other websites to strengthen your rankings.

Kasra Dash: Another channel that connects to that is organic social media. Organic social media is largely a numbers game. Businesses should create content that their audience actually wants to see. I often see companies that post a few times on Instagram and then disappear for years. That will not generate sales. Instead, create helpful content such as guides, before and after examples or useful tips. That type of content encourages people to learn more about your business and fill in a contact form. Organic social media is free to use but it requires consistency. Posting three or four times per week is usually a good approach.

James Dooley: Paid social advertising is another strong strategy. If you are already creating regular social media content, boosting those posts with a small budget can significantly increase their reach. Case studies, customer results and awards can perform well when promoted. You can also run retargeting ads so that people who visit your website continue to see your brand afterwards. Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest and Reddit all provide advertising options. Paid social media remains an underused channel for many businesses.

Kasra Dash: Another marketing strategy that businesses often have mixed experiences with is PPC advertising. This includes Google Ads and Bing Ads, which appear as sponsored results above organic listings. Some businesses spend large budgets on PPC and see no results, while others say it transformed their business. The difference usually comes down to how the campaigns are managed. Successful PPC requires strong negative keyword lists, protection against click fraud, high converting landing pages and a sales team that responds quickly to new enquiries. Without those elements, PPC campaigns can waste a lot of budget.

James Dooley: While we are talking about paid marketing, another potential opportunity is advertising on AI platforms. It has not been fully rolled out yet, but companies like ChatGPT may introduce advertising features in the future. Other platforms such as Claude and Perplexity may also introduce ads. Businesses that become early adopters could benefit from lower costs and cheaper leads.

Kasra Dash: Another channel that can influence visibility is online forums like Reddit and Quora. Businesses cannot fully control what is said on these platforms, but positive recommendations from customers can drive enquiries. Encouraging satisfied customers to leave reviews and share recommendations can increase your visibility online.

James Dooley: Platforms like Reddit also appear frequently in AI generated search results. Positive discussions about your business can therefore improve AI visibility as well. The final strategy I would mention is using tradesman websites such as Checkatrade, Bark, Rated People and MyBuilder, or partnering with third party lead generation companies. The most important point across all these strategies is understanding your KPIs and your return on ad spend. Businesses should track the time and budget spent on each marketing channel and compare it with the revenue generated.

James Dooley: Lead generation companies can also generate enquiries using SEO, PPC or social media advertising. If they deliver a positive return on investment, they can be a valuable part of your marketing strategy. FatRank and Promo SEO offer commission based or performance based lead generation services that guarantee a return on investment. Businesses should still develop their own lead generation channels, but having multiple sources of enquiries reduces risk and supports long term growth.

James Dooley: Make sure you check out Promo SEO or the FatRank lead generation service as part of your digital marketing strategy for 2026.

Kasra Dash: Thank you very much James.