Clever Marketing Strategies – Case Study 2 – British Heart Foundation.

This is the second Marketing Strategy case study I am sharing in the hope that it gives you some ideas for your own business.

This time it is about the British Heart Foundation.

The full version of this blog post is now here

Clever Marketing Strategies – Case Study 1. Ocado

I thought seeing a clever marketing strategy from the consumer's perspective might give you some ideas...

My husband had a big birthday in August so we decided to have a large family party. The week before the party I wondered what unexpected expense would come up at this costly time and came down to see water all over the floor…

Yes folks I had terminally hexed the washing machine.

Having conducted the last rites over our machine our plumber advised that we buy a Bosch so the online search was on… not surprisingly we settled on one that included £100 of Ocado shopping vouchers.

Clever Ocado – this is the same target audience isn’t it?  Someone who might buy “a nice Bosch” might also like “a nice supermarket”

The full version of this blog post is now here

Thanks to Drewm on Flickr for the Ocado shopping pic.

Marketing Strategy - get set for 2012

You may be excited about 2012 being Olympics year.

You may be determined to raise your game and are immersing yourself in self-improvement books to understand goal setting and focus.

Either way you will understand where I am coming from in terms of getting your act together for the coming year’s marketing strategies.

Let’s break this down in bite sized chunks:

On your marks:

• Your current clients should be on a database ready to mail or e-mail
• You should have put up your profile on whichever social media channel you have chosen (remember this is not the one you like but the one your clients/potential clients use)
• You should have sought out your clients and contacts out on whichever social media channels you are using
• Your networking contacts should also be on a database (no teetering piles of business cards please)
• You should be following any peers and experts on LinkedIn in order to continually hone your own knowledge
• You should have identified and booked into any relevant networking events
• You should be actively seeking any presentation opportunities
• You should be looking for any business awards you could enter

 Get Set:

• You should have developed new opportunities for your clients to work with you
• You should have looked at your competitors to make sure you are not missing a trick
• You should have re-vamped your website and marketing materials to make sure they are impactful and relevant – a nice lot of calls to action please!
• You should have developed a newsletter template using a client contact system like mailchimp
• You should have looked into marketing mediums you have not previously used:  video clip, SMS, QRCode, e-book?
• You should have identified any promotions you might roll out:  recommend a friend, 2 for 1, affiliate deals?
• You should have put together a 12 month overview with 3 months detailed activities. (If you struggle with this ask about my marketingroadmap service)

Go:

• Using all of the marketing arsenal above, undertake your marketing consistently and continually to avoid that roller coaster income and to take your business to new levels
• Throughout the year make time to up your game through training and learning opportunities. Social networking sources; books/e-books and workshops are ready and waiting for you to take advantage.  My current marketing workshop timetable is here:

Is there anything else you are doing in preparation for the year ahead? I‘d love to hear and share.

PS Getting downhearted because you're not getting immediate results - don't be.  Here's why

Have you forgotten the basic principle of marketing?

How are you doing out there?  Feeling a little stressed? I've had some interesting  insights about the challenges of getting in business of late.

One client expressed the opinion that most companies with a good product or service had grown organically for about seven years and then came the crunch. This was quickly followed by having to get to grips with the ever changing landscape of Social Media and Digital Marketing

One LinkedIn message revealed that a business had failed because "We took our eye off the marketing". 

A member of the audience where I was presenting last Thursday said she'd a great first quarter and then a much more challenging second one.She then went on to reveal the reason why "but I haven't been out there networking and business always drops off when I do that"

A bewildered friend admitted that he'd not looked at his website since it was first done, nor had he been proactive in marketing his business. And although he had seen the writing on the wall in terms of his niche sector going into decline he had done nothing about it - until he HAD to.

These types of conversation remind me that some people have forgotten the basic principle of marketing.  It may be a real drag but it's captured very neatly by Jay Conrad Levinson:

"Marketing is not an event but a process. It has a beginning, a middle, but never an end for it is a process.  You improve it, perfect it, change it even pause it but you never stop it completely"

In other words marketing is the accelerator pedal of your business! To get yourself underway why not answer these 6 key marketing questions.

And don't forget much of marketing is at no cost.  Take a look at some of my other posts about

Making the most of free images
Creating Infographics
Content Marketing - 10 ways to get it right


Remember "success is more down to choice then chance".  Personally I'm choosing to market myself at every opportunity and I'm also working hard with business owners that recognise they probably need to do the same! Get in touch if you'd like a little of that support.


Thanks to bottled void on Flickr for the image!

                                

Looking for a new marketing strategy? How about article marketing?

Do you like writing? Are you an expert in your field? Or passionate about a particular subject? Then article marketing might be a good strategy for you

This subtle (and free) form of online advertising is all about writing and submitting an online article. And it's a true win win situation since these articles add value to the content of online publishers and e-newsletter distributors whilst simultaneously spreading YOUR word.

One of the most well known platforms for doing this is www.ezinearticles.com. Set up in 1999, this resource gives you exposure to hundreds of thousands of daily visitors who in turn have thousands, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of e-mail list members of their own. So, in effect, if you write a great insightful article you may get

• a lot of exposure to a lot of people
• a boost to your credibility
• and possibly some direct business

This really does work, I got a Swindon based client simply because she’d read something I‘d submitted and then clicked on my website link. There should be no surprise that this kind of thing happens - after all those coming to your website WILL want what you are offering...

I also discovered one of my articles within a high circulation US based business advice newsletter - so it is possible to momentarily become a legend in your own lunchtime!

Ezinearticles is packed with lots of good ongoing advice about creating the best possible piece and it is wise to read this since there are thousands of authors with whom you are competing. However, the very act of learning to write such an article can be enormously helpful in honing a fresh new marketing perspective.

Has anyone else had marketing success using this method?

Marketing - 12 reasons why it seldom works instantly

One of the quotations I use in my workshops is by Jay Conrad Levinson and it's this:

"Marketing is not an event, but a process . . . it has a beginning, a middle, but never an end, for it is a process. You improve it, perfect it, change it, even pause it. But you never stop it completely"

The reason for this is that marketing is about keeping in touch with your target audience in a sustained way to ensure they know who you are when they (or their friends, families or colleagues)are about to buy.

Promotions seldom resonate the first time round and here's why:

1. They were away and didn't see it in the first place
2. They have a huge pile or post and paperwork that they need to get through
3. They don't yet know you or your business well enough
4. You have not yet earned their trust
5. They have more questions but have not got round to asking them
6. They are not interested in what you are offering at the moment
7. They don't have the money at the moment
8. They didn't understand the benefit of what you are offering them
9. This particular ad or marketing offer was weak
10.They don't read the marketing vehicle you chose
11.Your website was unimpressive with old news and poor usability
12.They were going to respond ...and then they forgot

I don't think any of those sound unreasonable do they? These are the many reasons that we too fail to respond instantly to something which actually interests us. How many of you are now purchasing for Christmas the item you thought would be ideal for your friend when you saw it months ago?

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Plumbers Taps...

It may not be entirely coincidental that the title of this post occurs as my kitchen is being re-fitted! And how did this builder get my work? Because he asked for one of my free Marketing Healthchecks and in doing so marketed himself to me!

This is just one example of the fact that stepping out of your normal routine to try something different often results in work... a local website designer was quite astonished when the inserted flyers he put into a local fete programme actually yielded new clients.

Yes, well that's the joy of marketing, if you put your head above the parapet someone might just spot you at a time they need you. And you need not spend a fortune you just need to be innovative.

And whilst we are talking about stepping out of your normal routine could I just ask you to actually earmark some time to take a fresh look at your processes, your marketing resources, and indeed your offer?

The snow earlier this year forced me develop two new workshops(rather than go stir crazy) that have since been taken up by local organisations and the third sector. A new mobile phone number has prompted me to talk to a graphics design company to re-do my business card (which I still thought of as "new" but was actually done at the end of 2008). This in turn gives me an excuse to promote not only my blog but also a new social networking initiative which is shortly to be launched.

Many of you will have heard me say it before - if you always do what you have always done you will always get what you always got. Please - don't let your business, or your marketing materials stagnate!