For thousands of entrepreneurs across the country, the pandemic has meant their dreams of starting new businesses had to be put on hold.
Milliner Sarah Ross was poised to launch her first range of showstopping hats in March 2020, with occasions such as weddings and Ascot in mind.
However, just as her products were about to go on sale, lockdown was announced, with all social events cancelled, meaning her plans ground to a halt.
Milliner Sarah Ross was poised to launch her first range of showstopping hats in March 2020
After spending years training and honing her skills, Sarah, 49, from Oxshott in Surrey, was forced – along with thousands of other SMEs – to put her plans on hold.
‘I was due to launch just before lockdown was announced. I had worked through winter to prepare for it. I was supposed to have some pieces go on sale in a shop, and I had orders cancelled for Ascot as well.
‘Customer-wise, it was completely on hold. I still carried on making my hats throughout lockdown, I’ve created a new collection. But I had no income through the business, and no orders.
Like for many other small businesses, the pandemic totally put a pause on Sarah’s business plans
Sarah makes her hats with occasions such as weddings and Ascot in mind
‘Like so many others, I felt deflated after putting in lots of work, but at the end of the day, the hats are still there, so I was on pause rather than a stop. I want to focus on the positives.’
Now, with lockdown restrictions lifting, and more social events going ahead, Sarah was keen to get the word out about her incredible designs as soon as possible – and to the right audience.
She decided to try MailOnline’s new Ad Manager, which was launched in March to help small businesses thrive while coming out of lockdown.
It’s an easy-to-use system, which allows businesses to advertise to MailOnline’s huge 25 million readers, but without a huge price tag.
In just seven days, Sarah had more than 1,000 extra hits to her website thanks to her campaign – as well as a rise in enquiries for orders.
‘I’ve had more than 200,000 impressions on my advert, which is incredible – and I’ve had more than 100 clicks a day to my website, which is a huge boost.
‘It was brilliant to have a friendly person at the end of the phone if I needed it, but the system was really straightforward to use. It gave the campaign a personal touch.
‘I included a video in my campaign, and the Ad Manager figure for the number of people viewing the video to the end is brilliant – it shows a really engaged audience.
‘It was also fantastic to be able to target a specific audience, as I’m on the border of Surrey and Greater London.
‘The brand awareness was great too – and just at the right time for my business. The campaign was live on MailOnline at the same time it was announced Ascot would be increasing its crowd capacity.
In just seven days of using MailOnline’s Ad Manager, Sarah had more than 1,000 extra hits to her website thanks to her campaign – as well as a rise in enquiries for orders
‘It was perfect timing, as I had more enquiries for hats coming through the website.’
With Ad Manager, targeting a specific audience is easy, with hyper-local advertising for relevant, affluent customers.
Not only can you advertise to more people in your area than your local titles can reach, you can also target customers by postcode, interests and life stage, ensuring you reach as many of our 25 million consumers as you choose.
Your Ad Manager campaign only takes minutes to set up – and it could be live in less than 24 hours.
Here’s how you can advertise YOUR small business on MailOnline:
