FINANCIAL POST
T H U R S D A Y, J A N U A R Y 1 5 , 2 0 1 5
C A P I TA L Q U E S T I O N
WHAT’S THE BEST MARKETING ADVICE YOU’VE RECEIVED? Entrepreneurs discuss tactics that work for them “Many years ago, I had an award-winning marketer cringe when he heard advertising and sales being lumped together with marketing. He told me to put an imaginary brick wall between them to truly separate them … I now treat marketing as finding out what a customer wants or what catches their interest, and bend my product or make a new one to meet those needs.” Harvey Taphorn, leadership specialist at Crestcom International, crestcom.ca
“The best marketing advice I have ever received was to always provide clients with a solution to a problem. In my business, I use my content marketing to help simplify creating a healthy lifestyle … My entire business is modeled around that advice.”
Amanda MacIntyre, founder and certified holistic health coach at Rebel Health Coach, rebelhealthcoach.com
“Four tips: Perception is reality; know who your customer is; know the needs of your customer and how your product or service can fulfill them; and it’s six or seven times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to keep a current one.”
Shawn Alain, president of Viral In Nature, viralinnature.com
“Every single person on your team works in the marketing department. Every single person represents you, and every moment you and your team represent your business is an opportunity to leave a lasting impression that can pay immense dividends.”
Michael Tighe, president of Solid Site Inc., asolidsite.com
“Consistency! It’s so easy to back off on your marketing when things get busy. I always try to heed the advice I received early on and ensure that my message on supporting others in resolving conflict gets out consistently. Sometimes it makes for late nights, but it’s always worth it.”
Sara Dasko, CEO of Free Mind (freemindls.com), says it’s all about narrowing your focus. “If you try to target everyone, you’ll reach no one. This tip shows how integral it is to have a niche market and target demographic.” PHOT O BY : L I S A H O U L E
“The best advice I’ve received is to create a marketing plan and track the success of each initiative launched ... This has allowed me to better target our marketing efforts , budget more appropriately, and measure client interest in new service offerings. Creating a yearly marketing plan has given me more control of my business growth, and provided greater success with each new program launch.” Megan Armstrong, owner of Dogma Training & Pet Services Inc., dogmatraining.com
“It’s not about the marketing strategy, but about the routine around the strategy. Marketing is an investment, not an expense, and it must be measurable. Best case scenario, the profit from the first sale pays for the strategy, or the profit from transactions over a given period must pay for it. If not, something is wrong with the routine around the strategy, you aren’t measuring the right data, or the conversion on leads isn’t good.” Vince Fowler, chief challenger of the status quo at Vested Interest Group Inc., vestedinterestgroup.com
“You can’t trust in your marketing instincts [initially], you must rely on your market’s investigations and researchers. Then you can put in practice your marketing instincts.”
Leandro Giron Canales, president and CEO of Master Mats & Services Inc.
“Marketing is a chance to start a conversation with each of your customers, or have others start conversations on your behalf. To do this you need to be notable, so you need something new and interesting that you want people to talk about at all times, as well as a way to get that point of interest in front of new eyes every month.”
Michelle Phaneuf, Alberta co-director at Workplace Fairness, workplacefairness.ca/wfi_alberta.html
“The best marketing advice I’ve received to date is simple: Who you are and everything you do is the ultimate form of marketing. Branding comes after. You must impress with your knowledge, your integrity and your willingness to help or serve your customers first ... People like to do business with people they know and trust.” Lois Jones, CEO of Here’s the Scoop, heresthescoop.com
“I was unaware of the science behind marketing and the incredible impact it would have on my business until I started working with a professional. I have learned that marketing is about communicating externally and internally about how you position your business, identify your target market, and describe the features and benefits of your product or service.” Elizabeth Brueckner, principal and founder of G.K. Hills Tank Inspection, gkhills.com
“The best marketing advice I received was from my marketing coach, Ave Peetri. She advised me to have an evolving marketing plan that’s aligned with my values and what I want to achieve, and to find the marketing style that reflects who I am and what I stand for.”
Guylaine Gagnon, owner and professional tea sommelier at Zen Tboutique, zentboutique.com
“Marketing is enthusiasm transferred to the customer, meaning your customers will be enthusiastic about your product or service if you give them a reason to be. Customers only become interested or engaged if there’s value in it for them … Customer enthusiasm about your product or service creates your biggest fans and your best referral sources.” Nancy Seeger, CEO of Seeger Consulting Inc., seegerconsultinginc.com
“The best marketing advice I have ever received is to never view the competition as competition, but rather to look at how you may be able to leverage each other’s businesses to build your reputation, brand and customer base.” Jackie Appleby, owner of Diligent Assistant, jackieappleby.ca
Douglas Hagedorn, CEO of Tactalis, tactalis.com
“Your most important potential customer is the one you are currently working with. Word-of-mouth advertising and personal recommendations are the backbone of my company. We receive about 95 per cent of our customers directly from referrals from previous clients, so the best marketing strategy is to ensure that our existing clients receive the best personal service and a high quality product.” Connor Turner, president of Armadillo Studios Inc., armadillostudios.ca
“The best marketing advice I’ve received was to add value to my customers by giving away free content or products. Once you let clients experience what you are all about for free, they are more likely to build a relationship with you and buy from you.”
“Focus on your ideal clients and make sure that they understand your message. When that happens, others will understand too.” Ave Peetri, founder of Coaching by Ave Peetri Inc., confidentmarketingcoach.com
“Be consistent! Consistency is the key to a long-term marketing strategy. Many people look to marketing for a quick boost to their bottom line and fail to realize that a good marketing strategy is applied consistently, over time. Tweak it if you must, but stay consistent with your strategy to be most successful.” Carmen Goss, president of Prominent Personnel, prominent-personnel.ca
Justin Flunder, president of The Flundonian Group, justinflunder.com
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CAPITAL IDEAS UPCOMING JAN. 19: ACCELERATEAB KEYNOTE SERIES A talk from Geoff Lyons of CoolIT and Shawn Abbott of iNovia Capital ■ Where: Assembly Coworking Space (119 14th St. NW) ■ When: 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. ■ Admission: Free. To register, search “AccelerateAB Keynote Series” in Eventbrite JAN. 21: NETWORKING + WOMEN = FUN! A monthly networking event put on by the Canadian Business Chicks ■ Where: Craft Beer Market (345 10th Ave SW) ■ When: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. ■ Admission: $10 members, $20 non-members. Register at canadianbusinesschicks. com/events APR. 16: LEADERSHIP SERIES — I C O N S O F A L B E R TA A full-day event dedicated to building the leadership capacity of female business owners ■ Where: Hotel Arts (119 12th Ave. SW) ■ When: 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. ■ Admission: $200 to $300. Register at aweinspiringentrepreneurs.com Have an event that Capital Ideas should know about? Contact us at hello@ capitalideascalgary.com.
COMMUNITY QUESTION
How has lifelong learning or digital literacy helped your business grow? As an entrepreneur, the more you know, the more likely you are to succeed. That’s what motivates the people behind The HTML500, a free workshop that aims to teach entrepreneurial folks how to code. Capital Ideas is working with the organizers to help make that happen, which is why we invited them to ask this week’s question: How has lifelong learning or digital literacy helped your business grow? You can answer the question in two ways: Open today’s Capital Ideas email if you’re a member, or visit capitalideascalgary.com. We’ll publish the best answers, along with your business name and website address, on Jan. 22. The HTML500, a product of Lighthouse Labs (lighthouselabs.ca), is Canada’s largest learn-to-code event. It takes place in Calgary on Jan. 31. For details and to sign up, visit thehtml500.com/cities/ calgary
These answers are in response to a question posed by Wellington Holbrook, executive vice-president of ATB Business. Here’s his take: “The best marketing advice I’ve received is to build your elevator pitch. You should succinctly be able to sum up the essence of your business and its differentiating factor in a few short sentences. It is the opportunity to give a compelling ‘why’ and reflect your company culture in a consistent way. It’s powerful both internally and externally, and everyone in your business should be able to pitch it the same way.”
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