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

James Dooley: If you have a business based in Surrey and you're looking to grow and you're uncertain which digital marketing strategies you should be focusing on, should you be trying to get in the AI overviews or in ChatGPT, or should you be trying to team up with a Surrey-based SEO agency or a pay-per-click PPC agency based in Surrey? These are all things that we're going to unfold today. But before we get started on the different types of digital marketing strategies working best in 2026, what bit of advice would you give to business owners who are based in the Surrey area before they spend a single penny on digital marketing?

Kasra Dash: So for business owners based in Surrey, the number one piece of advice that I would give is go and set up some KPIs. These KPIs will actually cover your back when you start to scale up or scale down certain campaigns in the future. And if you don't know what a KPI is, it's basically a metric that you can score certain things on. So the metrics that I typically look at is how much money I am spending on generating new enquiries.

Next, I want to know how many enquiries have come from certain campaigns. So if I'm spending money on Facebook Ads, Checkatrade and PPC, let's say, I want to know how many leads each of those campaigns have generated me. And then from the generated leads, the next KPI that I would be looking at is how many of those leads have I been able to contact and how many have actually picked up the phone. Then from that, the next KPI that I would be looking at is how many of those leads that I've contacted have turned into paying customers. Once you have those facts and figures in place, that's when digital marketing just becomes a lot more predictable. You can scale certain campaigns up. You can turn certain campaigns off as well. So James, what would be the first digital marketing strategy that you would recommend to a Surrey-based business?

James Dooley: So step number one for me has got to be branding or brand SEO and making certain that you're looking good online, you've got a strong reputation. I think everything needs to start, the foundations need to start with a positive kind of brand SERP of who you are and what you do. So a SERP stands for search engine results page and getting that branding right across the board then can lead on to other things of what you can be doing. It will improve your conversion rate on paid ads or social media. Any leads that you're getting, the conversion rate would be good if at the 11th hour they're going to decide who you're going to go with. Branding becomes very important. So I'd say that's the first thing that people need to get right for all digital marketing strategies.

Kasra Dash: My next strategy is going to be AI visibility. I feel like more and more companies are actually looking into this. So what does ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity say about your brand or about your business? Is it a positive thing or is it a negative thing? And also trying to figure out what it says about your competitors as well. Improving that is really important. Some people call it AI SEO, some people call it GEO, some people call it LLM optimisation. This is going to be a big thing in 2026 and in the years to come.

James Dooley: Yeah, I think that's a huge strategy that people need to be looking at with regards to artificial intelligence. More and more people are using AI. The next one for me is filling in the form at Fat Rank or Promo SEO, which do a commission-based lead generation service for UK companies looking to grow. I think it's important to focus on your own digital marketing efforts to generate your own leads, but also if you can use freelancers and outsource some, you get diversification of leads. Head on over to fatrank.com, fill in the form and see whether they can help you with a no risk supply of enquiries. Promo SEO also offer a similar performance-based lead generation service, so it is worth checking both to see if a third party can top up your lead flow in 2026.

Kasra Dash: Next on the list is Google Business Profiles. So Google Map listings. This is local SEO where you try to get more reviews and build out your profile in your area. The biggest benefit is once it ranks, it generates consistent leads. The issue is getting there. If you have no listing, you might be competing against businesses with 60 or 100 reviews. To get reviews, you need leads, so it becomes a cycle. It is still important for branding, but you need to understand the pros and cons.

James Dooley: If you're in a local area, you need those map listings. For me, you need to be omni-channel and omnipresent. The next part is SEO in general. Organic SEO. Can you build your website to rank better? If you're local, create pages based on your service areas. For example, plumbing in Manchester. Then support that with your Google Business Profile. There is huge search volume for services and informational content. You want high quality content, strong topical authority and third party backlinks to push rankings. That is a core part of digital marketing in 2026.

Kasra Dash: Then you have organic social media. This is a numbers game. You need to create content your audience actually wants. Many brands post a few times and disappear for years. That will not drive sales. If you produce guides, how-tos, before and after content, people engage and click through. It is free, but it requires consistency. You should be posting at least three or four times a week.

James Dooley: On that, paid social ads are massive. If you're already posting, spend a small amount boosting those posts. Promote case studies, awards and trust signals. You can also run retargeting ads for people who visited your site. Platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest and even Reddit. Paid social is still underused and has strong potential.

Kasra Dash: The next one is PPC. Google Ads or Bing Ads. These are the sponsored listings above organic results. Some businesses spend thousands and get nothing. Others scale massively from it. The difference comes down to setup. You need strong negative keyword lists, protection against click fraud, high converting landing pages and a well trained sales team that responds quickly. If those elements are not in place, PPC will fail. If they are, it can perform very well.

James Dooley: There are pros and cons. PPC can generate instant leads, but many businesses waste budget. Another area to watch is paid ads on AI platforms. It is not fully rolled out yet, but ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity may introduce ads. Early adopters could benefit from cheaper leads, so it is something to watch in 2026.

Kasra Dash: You also have forums like Reddit and Quora. This depends on your customers. If people are talking positively about your business, that drives recommendations. Encouraging reviews and word of mouth can generate leads. It is not fully controllable, but it is valuable.

James Dooley: Platforms like Reddit are also being cited heavily in AI overviews. Positive mentions can directly improve AI visibility. The final one is tradesman websites like Checkatrade, Bark, Rated People and MyBuilder, or working with third party lead generation companies. The key across all of this is understanding your KPIs and return on ad spend. If a channel is profitable, scale it. If not, cut it.

There are also lead generation companies like Fat Rank and Promo SEO that operate on a performance basis. They guarantee return on investment because you only pay for results. That can be one part of a wider strategy. You should still generate your own leads and avoid relying on a single source. Diversification is critical for growth in 2026. Thank you very much, Kazra.