We are extremely passionate about this topic (messaging not the council) so are always alert to poor messaging. This week our attention was drawn to a branded pen:

The pen reads:

“Unison South West

There for you

020 7121 5620″

It may be a simple pen but it carries a message, which we interpret as follows: “Hello South West Unison members, we really care about you and the issues you face being employed by the public sector in the South West. We’re here for you so why not call us and someone in the big metropolis, i.e. someone quite removed from your locality, will be delighted to help you with your local concerns.”

Perhaps we are being picky but you can see the point.

Regardless of what you are selling, the message you give out to your existing and potential customers will determine how they perceive you and whether they buy from you or not. It is, therefore vital that you get the message is right, every time and on every thing you do!

The Audacious Company provides bespoke in-house, open and online training courses in the areas of leadership, sales and entrepreneurship. With a specific focus on lawyers, accountants, insurance professionals and automotive professionals The Audacious Company helps individuals to develop the habits and skills necessary to find , develop and mature new clients and to develop existing customers into long term, sustainable and profitable clients.

Straight Marketing will be responsible for marketing The Audacious Company’s open courses, initially in Exeter and then nationwide.

Alison Jobson, Director of Straight Marketing, commented: “We are very excited about our new client win and looking forward to getting started on this project. I worked in-house in the professional services sector for over 13 years before setting up Straight Marketing so I know this market well and am sure my experience here will be invaluable in signing up delegates to these courses.”

Vic Williams, Chief Executive of The Audacious Company, said: “I have chosen to work with Alison after considering a number of other options due to her professional approach and experience in the sector.  I am looking forward to this collaboration being a long and fruitful one.”

Director, Shaun Durham, added: “I am delighted to be working with Vic and Simon Dutton to develop an innovative, blended approach to professional training based around the audacious concept.”

However, lately we have been finding that the groups we participate in are simply being used for shameless self-promotion and blog dumping. In response to this we thought we’d share some advice on LinkedIn etiquette and how to derive the most benefit from group membership.

Using LinkedIn Groups effectively – Top tips

Do:

• Join the right groups – find groups that are relevant to you/your business and are active
• Introduce yourself
• Watch a while – read what others are posting and determine who the key influencers are
• Join in the conversation – comment on discussions
• Start a conversation – post a comment or a question that invites a discussion
• Share useful and relevant links (not just your own!)
• Connect with group members that are interacting with you
• Participate frequently
• Follow the group rules – you can find them in the upper right corner of the group page

Don’t:

• Jump straight in with a blog link
• Dump your blogs and then depart
• Post the same content across several groups that have similar membership
• Push sales messages
• Forget the rules of social engagement – there are real people behind the computer!

If you are prepared to invest the time and keep on track with the “do’s” you will find LinkedIn groups are an extremely effective way to develop your reputation and your business.

Of course if you would like help with your LinkedIn strategy please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.

Alison started off by explaining in layman’s terms what we mean by content marketing and went on to outline what constitutes content. She finished by explaining how to go about planning and implementing a content marketing strategy.

She also included suggestions on what content to share and provided some compelling statistics, for example did you know that blogs give websites 434% more indexed pages and 97% more indexed links?!

Alison’s top five top content marketing tips were:

1. Know your audience
2. Encourage sharing through social sharing buttons on your content
3. Sign up to Google authorship
4. Share content frequently and consistently
5. Consider outsourcing if internal resource is lacking

A copy of the presentation can be viewed here.

If you would like help preparing a content marketing strategy or support with putting together your content please contact us and we would delighted to assist. Alison would also be happy to deliver a presentation on content marketing to your business group or organisation.

Yesterday evening Alison Jobson from Straight Marketing delivered a marketing presentation to Budleigh in Business members and their guests at the Britannia Inn, Knowle. The title of the presentation was ‘Mastering Marketing’ and specifically focused on small business marketing.

Many small business owners lack the knowledge or the confidence to undertake their own marketing but also lack the resource to employ a marketing agency. With this in mind Alison’s presentation was geared towards breaking down the subject of marketing into easy to understand bite-sized chunks and demonstrating how easy it can to apply in your own business with plenty of relevant examples. Member questions were invited in advance so the answers could be weaved into the presentation to ensure that maximum benefit was derived from the event.

Twenty members of Budleigh in Business attended the event and took away some useful nuggets of marketing advice and information to implement in their respective businesses.

If you would like Straight Marketing to deliver a marketing presentation to your business group or organisation please contact us here. We are always willing to share our expertise with other businesses.

The Exmouth Business Awards are a joint venture between the Exmouth Chamber of Trade and Commerce and the Exmouth Journal. The idea behind the awards is to reward businesses of all shapes and sizes – ranging from the biggest to the small independent retailer.

Alison Jobson, Director of Straight Marketing, comments: “We are delighted to have been recognised as a reputable business in Exmouth and shortlisted for this award. There is a thriving business community in Exmouth but it is often overshadowed by Exeter and forgotten about. We are pleased to see Exmouth businesses being acknowledged in this way and think it delivers a very positive message for business in Exmouth.”

The Exmouth Business Awards were open to all businesses within the Exmouth boundaries with eight categories up for grabs.

The nominations were judged by the Editor of the Exmouth Journal, Phil Griffin, the Chairman of Exmouth Chamber, Ian MacQueen, Exmouth Chamber Executive Member, Nigel Wilkinson and the Principal of Exmouth Community College, Tony Alexander.

Commenting after the judging Ian McQueen said: “The judges had a difficult time whittling down the entries – some of the sections were extremely competitive.”

The winners will be announced at an awards dinner at Exmouth Pavilion on Friday 26 April 2013.

We believe this is an example of a poorly thought out marketing initiative where the message is wrong and badly executed:

• “Offering a great deal” – both car parks are owned by EDDC and are within minutes of each other. Why is one a “great deal” and not the other? Is EDDC suggesting that the Foxholes Car Park does not offer value for money? Is that a positive message to give out to the general public? Car parking charges in East Devon are already a contentious issue and this sign seems to suggest that the car park fees are expensive.
• The sign is not located at the entrance to the car park so must people looking for a “great deal probably wouldn’t notice it in any event.
• The sign is not large enough to be fully read by anyone driving past in a car so is likely to be missed by the target audience.

Most concerning is that someone at EDDC thought this was an effective use of public sector money which we all know is in short supply. What message does that give out?

Good marketing communication is dependent on a clear message that is articulated well and delivered where the target audience will receive it. In our opinion this signage falls far short.

Do you agree?

The hour long event “Mastering Marketing” is being hosted by Budleigh in Business and aims to take the mystery out of marketing and show small businesses how they can successfully apply it themselves.

During the first half of the seminar Alison will outline the various marketing options that are available to small businesses, highlight the pros and cons of each and show attendees how to determine which are the most appropriate activities for their business.

The second half of the session will be an open surgery where attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and seek direct advice on the marketing of their own business. Questions are invited in advance to ensure time to consider the answers and provide the best possible advice!

This seminar will be invaluable for any business owner/manager who knows they need to be marketing but is unsure where to start or is already marketing well but looking for some new ideas to implement in their business. There will also be the opportunity to network with other local businesses.

Marketing seminar details

Date: Monday 22 April 2013

Time: 6pm – networking and drinks, 6.30pm – seminar start

Venue: The Britannia Inn, Knowle, Budleigh Salterton, Devon EX9 6AL

Cost: Free to Budleigh in Business members, £5 for non-members

To attend

Booking is essential. If you would like to attend this event please email Trudie Burne: trudie.burne@budleighinbusiness.org.uk.

All guests are welcome to attend one Budleigh in Business event before being invited to become a member.

What is a sector-based marketing approach?

Sector-based marketing involves marketing your products/services to a particular industry niche or sector. The products/services are tailored to meet the needs of that sector and all marketing communication messages are directed towards that particular market.

Why choose a sector-based marketing approach?

The benefits of marketing your products/services to niche markets rather than being ‘all things to all men’ include:

• It can be easier to identify your target customers when they are within a specific market sector.
• It is easier to identify potential and focused marketing opportunities – e.g. trade press, industry associations, industry-wide events – which are relevant to that sector.
• It becomes a point of differentiation – your knowledge of the sector and the challenges being faced by businesses within it coupled with a tailored product/service is a very strong selling point.
• You build a track record/reputation in that sector and become a ‘go to’ for the needs of that industry.

How to adopt a sector-based marketing approach?

Now you are convinced that a sector based marketing approach is the way forward for your business, how do you implement it?

1. Identify your key sectors – this could be based on a number of factors such as your existing experience in that sector, changes in the sector giving rise to opportunities or a lack of existing providers serving that market. Whilst prior experience should be a strong influencing sector it need not be a limiting factor. It is possible to build a reputation in a new market sector, it just takes time.
2. Understand your chosen sector – become as knowledgeable as you can about the sector and keep abreast of all changes and developments.
3. Tailor your offering – this could involve altering your branding (perhaps introduce sub-brands for each sector offering); adapting your product/service offering to meet the specific needs of the industry; or changing your marketing messages so that they resonate with your target sector.
4. Gather case studies/testimonials – demonstrate your strength in the sector by preparing case studies on your expertise and asking your customers for testimonials.
5. Identify the key influencers for that sector – determine the key trade publications, industry/professional associations, social media/online groups and industry events for your chosen sector and use these in your marketing mix.
6. Find your key referrers – identify the other key businesses in the supply chain which target the same industry sector and see if there are any opportunities to collaborate or refer customers to each other.
7. Tailor your marketing – ensure that all your marketing efforts are relevant to your chosen sector/s.

Sector-based marketing ensures a very focused approach that is always more effective than scatter gun so it is worth considering how you might apply it in your business.

I accept that there is always a degree of time which needs to be invested when you are pitching for a new client and I am not questioning that. At Straight Marketing we are always offer potential clients an initial free of charge marketing consultation. My query is how do you respond to those who clearly have no money and just want something for nothing?

I am all for sharing my expertise and helping people out and whilst the person you are consulting with might not have any money to spend with you immediately that situation could change in a few months. If they were impressed with your initial consultation they are likely to come back to you and engage your services when they have the budget to do so. You also have to look beyond the immediate scenario and consider who that person might have contact with and be in a position to refer you to.

However, when you are a consultancy business, as we are at Straight Marketing, time is money and time spent giving away your wares for free could be spent in other ways – writing a blog, doing some research into target clients, fee earning or enjoying some time off! There is an opportunity cost. When I first set up Straight Marketing I spent quite a lot of time giving away advice for free and I’m not convinced that there was much return in it.

Let’s be honest, there is also an element of annoyance and lack of worth when someone expects you to provide your expertise for nothing. You wouldn’t expect to have a free meal in a restaurant so why do you expect a professional to share their expertise with you for free?

On balance I don’t really know the answer but the conclusion I have come to is that you need to judge each request on its own merits weighing the opportunity cost against the business development potential.

So these are my thoughts, I’d love to know what you think. How much should you give away for free and how do you respond when you think someone is taking the proverbial? Please respond in the comments section below.