BT has launched a new digital advertising platform to make it easier for businesses to run their own marketing campaigns, helping them to better promote their goods and services online.

BT’s Digital Marketing Hub gives firms the tools and support to create, publish and track their digital advertising across Google, Facebook and Instagram from a single platform.

With the majority of businesses moving online during the pandemic, a recent survey by Small Business Britain, in partnership with BT, found that 74 per cent of small firms have increased their use of social media to promote their business online.

And 43 per cent of those polled said they were using e-commerce more, while 30 per cent had increased their use of paid social media advertising. BT's offering is designed to allow more firms to take advantage of digital sales channels.

Businesses can create ads and run multi-channel marketing campaigns while all the results feed into a single analytics dashboard.

With artificial intelligence (AI) working in the background, businesses can get automatic recommendations around the best keywords, ad copy and media spends to include in their campaigns, “helping secure maximum return on investment”, said BT.

To support small businesses without their own website, the Digital Marketing Hub also provides the option to create a bespoke web page to direct potential customers to.

BT has also built a new team of digital advertising experts to provide an optional managed service. This is available as part of a fully managed pay-as-you-go service with Essential or Premium options on offer.

The managed service options range from set-up support from an expert to the total outsourcing of a digital strategy, and businesses can “flex” their level of support up and down as they want.

The platform is charged to businesses through a service fee, which is applied to each campaign on a pay-as-you-go basis, and varies depending on the service level the customer chooses. This gives businesses access to all the tools in the platform with no minimum contract length.

Chris Sims, BT managing director for the SoHo (small office/home office) unit, said: “This is a pivotal time for small businesses across the country, after a really tough couple of years. Small firms are the backbone of the UK economy, so it’s vital that they’re equipped with the digital tools and support they need to help their business reach new heights.

“Our Digital Marketing Hub has been designed to give small businesses peace of mind that their online advertising campaigns are reaching the right customers, in the right place, at the right time.”

Share Story: