The 2026 Digital Marketing Strategy That Actually Works for Liverpool-Based Companies

James Dooley: If you are a business owner based in Liverpool, Merseyside within England and you are looking to grow in 2026, today we are going to talk about different types of digital marketing strategies. Should you be focusing on SEO, social media such as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook or Instagram, or should you be trying to get your brand mentioned in large language models like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or Perplexity? There is a lot of noise about what businesses should and should not be doing. Many companies are spending money on marketing strategies that are not delivering the return on investment they expected. Before we get started, Kasra, if a business owner is based in Liverpool and wants to generate more enquiries, what advice would you give them before they start spending money on marketing?

Kasra Dash: The biggest issue I see with Liverpool based businesses is that they spend a lot of money on PPC and do not get the return they expected. They might spend £15,000 on PPC and only receive a handful of leads. The leads they do receive might not be high quality either. That is why I recommend setting up KPIs before spending money. Look at how much money you are spending, how many leads that spend generates and what the quality of those leads is like. Are the people actually interested in your services or are they time wasters? You also need to check whether the leads are contactable. Then you should measure how quickly your sales team follows up. If you are generating leads from PPC, Facebook ads, SEO or a lead generation company, your team must contact those leads quickly. If your response time is slow, the lead will often choose a competitor. Setting KPIs before investing in marketing helps prevent wasted spend. James, let us move into the marketing strategies. What would be the first one you recommend?

James Dooley: The first strategy should always be branding or brand SEO. Businesses must make sure they look strong online and have a positive reputation. Everything starts with a strong brand SERP, which stands for search engine results page. When someone searches your company name, the results should clearly show who you are and what you do. A strong brand presence improves conversion rates across other marketing channels. If someone clicks your paid ads or social media posts and then researches your brand, they are more likely to choose you if your brand reputation looks strong. Branding should always be the foundation of any digital marketing strategy.

Kasra Dash: The next strategy is AI visibility. More companies are starting to focus on this. Businesses should check what platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok and Perplexity say about their brand. Is the information positive or negative? They should also check what those platforms say about their competitors. Some people call this AI SEO, others call it GEO or LLM optimisation. Regardless of the name, visibility in AI tools is likely to become increasingly important during 2026 and beyond.

James Dooley: Another strategy to consider is working with third party lead generation companies such as Fat Rank or Promo SEO. These companies provide commission based lead generation services for UK businesses. Businesses should still focus on generating their own leads through marketing, but outsourcing part of the process can help diversify lead sources. If you can work with freelancers or agencies who generate enquiries on a performance basis, that can provide an additional stream of leads.

Kasra Dash: The next strategy is Google Business Profiles. This is essentially local SEO through Google Maps listings. Businesses should focus on building their profile and generating reviews in their local area. The main advantage is that once the listing ranks well, it can generate consistent leads. The challenge is that new listings often have a large review deficit compared to established competitors. For example, a competitor might have 60 or even 100 reviews already. That makes ranking difficult when you first start. Still, it is valuable for building brand presence locally.

James Dooley: If you operate in a local area, appearing in the map listings is extremely important. Businesses should also focus on organic SEO for their websites. This means building pages that target services in specific locations, such as plumbing in Manchester or electrical services in Liverpool. High quality content, topical authority and strong backlinks can help websites rank organically. Organic search traffic remains one of the most valuable long term lead generation strategies.

Kasra Dash: Another strategy is organic social media. This is very much a numbers game. Businesses should publish content consistently that their audience finds useful. For example, they could create how to guides, case studies, before and after projects or educational content. Many companies publish a few posts and then stop for years. That approach will never generate results. Posting three or four times per week can significantly increase visibility and traffic.

James Dooley: Alongside organic social media, paid social ads can also be effective. Even small budgets can work well. Some marketers call it the dollar a day strategy. If businesses are already creating content, they can boost those posts with small budgets to increase reach. Paid social ads can also be used for retargeting. When someone visits a website, they can be shown adverts again on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest or Reddit.

Kasra Dash: The next strategy is PPC advertising. This includes platforms such as Google Ads or Bing Ads. PPC listings appear above organic search results. PPC often creates a love hate relationship with business owners. Some spend tens of thousands of pounds and receive very few leads. Others invest heavily and generate large amounts of revenue. The difference usually comes down to how well the campaign is managed. Businesses need strong landing pages, detailed negative keyword lists and systems to prevent click fraud. Competitors sometimes click ads repeatedly to waste budgets. Sales teams must also respond quickly to leads generated through PPC.

James Dooley: There are also emerging opportunities with paid advertising on AI platforms. Although not fully rolled out yet, companies like ChatGPT and other AI tools are expected to introduce advertising options. Businesses that adopt these platforms early could potentially generate leads at a lower cost before competition increases.

Kasra Dash: Another opportunity is brand mentions in online forums such as Reddit or Quora. These discussions often happen naturally when customers talk about their experiences. Businesses cannot fully control those conversations, but encouraging satisfied customers to share their experiences can generate valuable word of mouth exposure.

James Dooley: There is also an additional benefit because platforms like Reddit are frequently cited in AI search results. Positive discussions about your brand can help improve AI visibility. The final strategy is using tradesman platforms or external lead marketplaces. Examples include Checkatrade, Bark, Rated People and MyBuilder. Businesses can also partner with lead generation agencies that produce enquiries through SEO, PPC or social media. The key point across all these strategies is measuring results. Businesses should track the time, effort and money invested in each marketing channel. If a platform delivers a positive return on investment, it makes sense to continue investing in it. Companies like Fat Rank and Promo SEO specialise in performance based lead generation. Businesses can submit their details and potentially receive enquiries on a commission basis. These lead sources should be just one part of a broader strategy. Businesses should never rely on a single marketing channel. Diversification helps ensure consistent lead generation and reduces risk. That is why companies should test multiple digital marketing strategies and track their performance carefully. Thank you very much, Kasra.