Marketing - It's like a string can telephone!

I recently read a blog post about avoiding 'Death by Powerpoint' which got me thinking about how it's all too easy to blast out sales information to potential customers without really thinking about how it will be received.

Getting our companies 'heard' in an age where information is all around us, we need to start talking to the customers we really want, in a way that they hear us loud and clear.

As kids in an era before mobile phones, we used to see how far we could talk to each other using tin can telephones... 

There were three essential things we needed to remember - to know they were picking up the other can, to keep the string line as straight and tight as possible when we spoke and to speak slowly and clearly.

It's the same with our marketing as we need to know:

• Who we want to talk to
• Which is the best way of attracting their attention - ie what types of marketing do they respond to
• What they need to hear

and then, just as in my string-can telephone days, we need to:

• Focus our communications to them
• Keep tight  the method and media you use so you know they are hearing you
• Speak clearly and use both messages and language they understand

To discuss how you can develop your customer communications, try our marketing audit service. Simply call us on +44 (0)1283 808460 or email hello@sookiasmedia.com.

Hannah Sookias runs marketing consultancy and training company, Sookias Media and is also the co-founder of The Effective Marketing Club. She works with many different companies helping them implement effective marketing campaigns and generate a return on their promotional budgets. 

Marketing 'To Do' list syndrome

Every business knows it needs to continually generate leads. Without them, sales pipelines dry up and new business disappears.

But despite marketing being the lifeblood for new leads, many firms suffer from the Marketing “To Do” List Syndrome. This is where marketing activities get pushed to the bottom of the list and other things always seem to take priority. In my experience this is for a number of reasons:

Busy Bees

For many the pressures of day-to-day business, fulfilling orders and customer service take precedence so marketing gets pushed down the list. Whilst this is understandable and OK in the short term, leads start to dry up when time for marketing activities isn’t ring-fenced.

Gappers

Another reason is because people are unsure whether it’s the right thing to be doing or not sure how to do it right.  This skills gap means they put things off or try things half-heartedly to develop the excuse, ‘we tried that but it didn’t work’.

Ostriches

As the saying goes, if you always do as you’ve always done, you’ll keep on getting what you’ve always got. Sadly this is no longer true in the marketing world. With new technologies, a web full of information at your fingertips, companies can no longer keep their heads in the sand. They need to engage with their prospective customers and existing clients more regularly and in different ways.

The Prescription

Happily there is a solution for all of these syndromes:

1. Firstly, set a regular time to undertake your marketing. Book a slot in your diary and stick to it.
2. Be kept accountable by joining a marketing club or investing in marketing mentoring.
3. Set marketing targets to track your progress and unleash your inner competitiveness.

Hannah Sookias runs the marketing consultancy and training company, Sookias Media and is also the co-founder of The Effective Marketing Club. She works with many different companies helping them implement effective marketing campaigns and generate a return on their promotional budgets. 

Delighting your customers

My sister gave me these flowers the other day just because, "I thought you might like them".

It was a lovely surprise, even more special as she didn't need to but knew I would appreciate them.

They reminded me that often we just communicate with our customers when we want something (in other words we want them to buy from us) rather than giving them something just because we know they'll appreciate it.

One of our clients runs hockey coach education courses. They have a database of loyal customers and with their next round of courses starting until after the summer break, they wanted to do something to keep in touch. They wanted to engage rather than sell, so they emailed a detailed skills training paper knowing that many of them would be starting to prepare for the new season ahead. By giving rather than selling, many replied back to say thank you, ask questions and have in-depth conversations about how they can help them as well as receiving bookings on their forthcoming courses.

That's because marketing isn't just about selling. It's about understanding what your customers need and engaging them into a two-way relationship. Delighting them with something that's unexpected but truly appreciated will help to deepen their brand loyalty and ultimately build sales.

If you'd like our thoughts on delighting your customers, call us on +44 (0)1283 808460 or email tweet us @HannahSookias or @SookiasMedia.

Marketing Rule #1: Know your customers

Customers come in all shapes and sizes. They differ from one company to another; even those that sell similar products or services.

But how well do you know yours? 

Do you know which industries they are from? Or the typical job roles they perform? 

Are there influencers within their companies who affect the suppliers or products they select? Or are they are in a particular stage of company growth?

Every business relies on its customers. To survive and grow we must know who our customers are, what they buy from us and why they buy from us.

When successful businesses set up, they'll have done their homework on who they want to sell to; define their market place and develop a business plan of how they intend to grow their business. They are able to give a personal service to each of their clients and know that they need to find more people who are similar to their best customer.

However, as client bases grow, it is easy to stop reviewing with quite so much detail the mix of your customers and whether their profile has changed. 

To avoid missing changes in your target market, regularly review your sales to answer the following questions:

• What are they buying?
• Who are your clients? Who are your largest clients?
• What industry are they from?
• What are the buyers’ job titles?
• How long is the sales process?
• Who else influences their buying decision?
• How did they find out about your company and your services/products?
• How often do they buy from you?
• How can you increase the quantity / frequency / profit margin on what they buy?

In my experience, companies usually have the answers to the above points but struggle to know where to look for that information. So in our consulting and training sessions we work through a proven process to help clients understand who is buying what and whether they want this mix to change. We then look at ways to develop their customer base and structure their marketing and promotions to support them.

For more information and help on knowing your customers, do give us a call on +44 (0)1283 808460 or email hello@sookiasmedia.com. 

LinkedIn : Business Generator or Timewaster?

Do you use LinkedIn? 

• Is it simply an on-line address book for keeping in touch with past colleagues and current business contacts?  
• Do you regularly go on to find out what people are up? 
• Is it an essential business development tool? 
• Do you only go onto the site if someone asks you to connect?

 More businesses than ever are discovering that it’s a business relationship and development website that, with thought to how it’s being used, can be a key part of your marketing and business development activities. 

LinkedIn is the world's largest professional network and now has over 200 million members around the globe. Its mission is simple: to connect the world's professionals to make them more productive and successful. 

Since its launch in 2003, LinkedIn has developed to give access to people, jobs, news, updates, and business insights. It’s recently undergone a facelift and streamlined its offerings so it is a fast, dynamic business tool. 

It’s great for finding and connecting with the potential customers you want to be working with. It’s a hub of information from business thought leaders, industry experts and your own go-to people. 

As with any marketing tool, what you get out of LinkedIn will be determined by what you put in. Knowing why you are using it, understanding the features available using them effectively will ensure the time you spend there isn’t a waste of time but a valuable investment in your business growth. 

Gain More from LinkedIn in our next Masterclass:   
Transforming Contacts into Business, 20 March 2013   9.30am-1.30pm
Book Now 

For more information on how you can use LinkedIn for your business, call us to discuss our training and consultancy options +44 1283 808460 or email hello@sookiasmedia.com
  

Finding Your Ideal Customers

I'm a firm believer in people buy from people. I enjoy meeting prospective clients but how I make the initial contact varies: it's often through social media, exhibitions, conferences and carefully selected networking events.


It's easy to waste time, money and energy looking for your ideal customers in the wrong place. 

Let me give you an example. I enjoy networking but the groups I belonged to when I first set up are no longer appropriate. I can have a nice meal and talk to some interesting people but I won't be gaining any business from them because they have a micro business membership base who work with other micro businesses. 

So these days, I do network, but I go to events where I meet the decision makers from SMEs. I use Twitter and LinkedIn to engage with prospective clients, influencers and referrers.

I also use my speaking skills and regularly give Top Tips talks for the Federation of Small Businesses, at exhibitions and conferences in addition to emailing newsletters and running training courses on all aspects of marketing. 

I have a clear understanding of who is my ideal customer. This includes the types of company they work in, the positions they hold as well as where they go for help, what they read, how they like to engage as well plus an in-depth insight into their marketing needs. 

Top Tip: Review your marketing activities. Are they finding you your ideal clients? If not, take an in-depth view of who you want as customers and how best to reach them.

Need help? Contact me today to discuss how we can help you find your ideal customers. 
Tel: +44 1283 808460 Email: hello@sookiasmedia.com Twitter: @HannahSookias or @SookiasMedia

How often should I blog?

What’s in a blog?
 
Blogs come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Individuals can blog their thoughts and advice; companies can use it as a diary, introducing new products, clients or events or start discussions with their readers. Some, like mine is a way to share information and knowledge.

Blogs are less formal than a website, and the personality of an individual and the culture of a company can shine through. After all, whether buying face-to-face or over the internet, people still buy from people so blogs are an ideal way to build rapport and start conversations with your target markets.

How often shall I blog?
How often you blog really depends what you want to get out of it and the resources you have to write it and keep it updated.

 Individual Blogs 
 If your blog just to share your personal thoughts, then there are no hard and fast rules – in other words, blog as and when you feel the urge!

Business BlogsCompany blogs however, do need consistency and regular entries. In effect, your blogs are like another website, and an additional opportunity for their keywords are picked up by the search engine spiders, helping prospective clients and current customers to find you and click-through to your website.

Keeping up the momentum
I decided that my company's marketing mix needed at least 1 blog posts per month, to tie in with our newsletter and the regular talks I give at different events, exhibitions etc.

Now, at this point you are probably glancing at my blog history and thinking, "Hmm, good intentions, but you had rather a gap until earlier this year!"

Well, here is where I hold my hands up – I’d unconsciously slipped into the 'I'll do it tomorrow' habit as so many people do when things get really busy... clients come first and our own marketing has taken a bit of a back seat.

Whilst the odd blip short term is OK, longer term, our lack of focus on this part of our marketing means that we have been missed by potential clients who looking for the type of information I can give them.

I still believe that my blogs, and sharing my knowledge and information through them is a major part of Sookias Media's marketing. So having slipped for a while, I have reminded myself to follow the Top 5 Tips for successful blogging that I give to our digital PR clients.

5 Top Tips for Successful Blogging

1. Decide your strategy. In other words, how are you going to use your blog? Is it for personal thoughts, as a promotional diary, for sharing thoughts and knowledge, etc?
2. Decide how often you will blog. Be realistic here. It is better to decided on 1 blog per month and achieve that, than trying to blog once a day and losing momentum after the first week.
3. Keep a list of blog ideas. I have inspiration at the most unusual times and places. By writing them down means you will remember them – it is so much easier to write a blog when you don’t need to think about what to write first. Also, ask clients and prospects what subjects they would like to read about and incorporate them as part of your sales process.
4. Set time aside to work on your blog. Write several posts in one sitting. Then, publish one and set the others to be automatically posted at later dates and times.
5. Let people know when you have posted a new blog – add a comment on your website, send a tweet, publish a message on Facebook and include it in your LinkedIn status. Make sure your blog allows people to subscribe to an RSS feed so they can choose to be informed of your updates automatically.

Happy blogging!

For more information on how blogs can work for your business, contact us today on +44 1283 808460 or email hello@sookiasmedia.com. www.sookiasmedia.com