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MARKETING MATTERS
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Lee Wedgbrow explains on page 4...
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A note from the editor Welcome to the third issue of Marketing Matters Magazine, a monthly online magazine that is full of practical marketing advice from specialists across the UK. We’re very excited to share it with you. In this edition, we speak to Lee Wedgbrow, market research specialist from Osiris MR, about why market research needs to be at the top of your list for the New Year and how doing some market research can help you grow your business. Stay tuned for the next edition of Marketing Matters Magazine, which will be released on the 31st December 2016. We hope you find it just as useful. Wishing you every success,
Rachael Smith Managing Editor
The Editorial Team
Editor-In-Chief
Managing Editor
Creative Director
Joanne Wilson 01522 581 911
Rachael Smith 01522 581 911
Thomas Jacobs 01522 581 911
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Is market research something you need for 2017? Lee Wedgbrow, market research specialist from Osiris MR gives us a breakdown of what market research actually is and why it is something you need to concentrate on in 2017... All businesses will find themselves needing to answer questions about themselves; these may be simple or challenging such as where should my business go next. The challenge for small businesses is finding out the best way to answer these questions. Market research is the answer. Every business large and small should have a research plan; small or no budget is not an excuse for not understanding your customers and market place. Market Research falls into 2 broad categories. 1. Secondary research Simply speaking you are making use of the internet and work that other people have already done. This could involve looking at changing demographics or reading a paper about the new product or concept development and working out how that applies to your business. Your only investment is time. Find a forum or site where the professional Marketers and Market Researchers hang out and share ideas. Ask them questions. You’ll find many are more than willing to offer advice and support.
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2. Primary research Rather than using somebody else’s work in primary research you are capturing the views of your customers, or finding out about your competitors directly. There are numerous ways of conducting primary research and there are a wealth of platforms offering ‘free’ but albeit limited surveys. You can start simply by asking your customers “Why did you buy from me?” or “Where did you hear about me?” You will find that people are generally willing to give you this information if you ask. You may decide that you want to see what your competitors are doing. There is nothing wrong in phoning them up and asking about their services and prices - they may very well have already done the same with you. If you are looking to develop new
markets or products you may want to look more complex research methodologies or combinations. There are wide ranges, from paper questionnaires or online surveys to focus groups. Of course whilst you can do it yourself, I would strongly suggest you look to getting some support from a professional market researcher. They will be able to add levels of sophistication to the research due to them knowing what works and what doesn’t. They are also used to looking at the results and generating useful marketing and insight from the data. So as part of your marketing plan for 2017 put market research at the top of your list.
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Fill the Gap Marketing
Richard Mawer 01522 837259
Rachael Smith 01522 581911
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Thomas Jacobs 01522 581911
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How do I make my event a success? Rachael Smith from Fill the Gap Marketing explains... How do I make my event a success? When it comes to running a successful event, you need lots of time, energy and even more patience. However, the rewards of hosting a well received event outweighs the effort you put into running it, especially as events can give you the opportunity to meet with prospects and demonstrate your company’s expertise. If you are thinking of running an event, you need to remember not to leave it to the last minute. Sit down, take some time to think about what you want to achieve from it, and what steps you need to take to make it successful. Here are a few questions you should ask yourself to make sure your event goes off without a hitch: 1. What type of event will you host? You need to think about your budget
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and what you are hoping to achieve from your event (always set an objective!). You also need to consider your target market – who do you want to attend? Design the event to suit them. You should also research other events happening around the same time and the type of facilities that are needed. 2. Where will the event be held? Sure, a lovely country manor is the middle of nowhere will look amazing, but will it be easily accessible for your guests? Again, always consider who you want to attend your event and the best way to minimise any inconvenience. It is also a good idea to give out directions prior to the event and think about any road work issues that may cause disruptions to your event. 3. What about food and drink? Do you do a 3-course meal or just have tea and coffee? It all depends on what type of event you want to host and what you would like to achieve from it. A 2 hour presentation may only need tea and
coffee, but an award ceremony will need much more elaborate refreshments You should also think about what to do if people have dietary requirements and if your venue has a license to serve alcohol if needed. 4. Do you have the right health & safety measures in place? When hosting any event, you need to have the appropriate health and safety measures in place and the right insurance. This is to ensure your guests remain safe throughout the event and that you have all the right controls in place to reduce or manage any risks. 5. Do you have a plan? A matrix with your key activities, deadlines and a person assigned to each activity will help make the running of your event much smoother and will help ensure nothing is missed out.
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7 Selling Strategies to exceed your 2017 Sales Forecast . . . Susan Marot from Succeed at Selling explains how you can smash your sales forecast in 2017...
Now everything you are about to read, you probably already know. The key thing to ask yourself is "Do you do it?"
Your sales forecast is not just something you do once a year. Make it at least a monthly target.
It is never too early to start thinking about how you are going to have an even better year than the last. Thinking about your sales forecast, sooner rather than later is key to profitable success.
Set SMART goals - SMART is a seriously underused methodology to create sales targets and goals. Make sure you check that your sales forecast really is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Sensitive.
Train like a pro - Don't let your learning slip. Learning how to sell successfully is a skill like any other. The better you get at selling the more money you will make. It is a simple mathematical equation.
Prepare to win - Just because you had a cracking year in 2016, doesn't mean you will repeat it without adequate preparation. When you put the effort in before you go out sell, then you will definitely increase your chances of closing sales.
Stay positive - Often easier said than done. However, think about what keeps you positive and focus on that when selling gets tough.
Selling successfully is all about balancing the here and now with the future. This is why forecasting your sales performance is essential for any business. Thinking about what you are going to do next year is always a tough one when the current year still has plenty of life to it. However, remember time flies and before you know it the decorations will be packed away in the loft and the January Blues have set in. Don't panic though as I'd like to suggest a solution. Here's how to blast your sales forecast into 2017 hyperspace...
Count your activity - How do you know if you are doing the right sales activity if you aren't measuring it? Count your call activity , wins and losses to uncover your key performance indicators. Review your performance Regularly reviewing your performance and KPI's is key to your sales success in 2017.
Ask for referrals - When someone says you and your product are great, then shout it from the roof tops. If you have the proof to support your claim, then you will never appear to be big headed. So set your stall out correctly for 2017 and exceed your sales forecast with ease.
Need a venue? We will find you the best venue for your corporate event completely free of charge. Our venue finding service costs you nothing so you can save time and money on your upcoming event. 07553 444 948 info@perfectlyapt.com www.perfectlyapt.com
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5 tips for writing attention grabbing headlines . . . With these tips, you’ll write headlines that are even better than that one. Probably…
avoid”, then the reader knows it’s going to take them longer than two minutes to absorb the life-changing information inside. We think that ‘5’ is a pretty good number, that’s how we got you in here after all.
peeling bananas (there is a ‘correct’ way to do that, apparently), or it could be about life-saving CPR manoeuvres, we JUST DON’T KNOW.
1. A to-the-point summary
3. Pick a beneficial adjective
5. Try to include a keyword
Don’t blabber on and on and on and on and on. “5 tips that you may or may not use depending on how much you deem them to be effective without the use of statistics but we’re pretty good at knowing what we’re talking about.”
This will encourage people to click into your post. Lure them in like a word mermaid (or merman), onto the rocks of valuable content.
For the Google. For the reader. For the win.
Sarah Nunn, Fill the Gap Marketing
2. Numbers Yep. People love numbers. It indicates the length of the post before the reader even opens it. If you say “Here are 83 girls’ names to
Here are a few you might like: Fantastic, Life-enhancing, Hilarious Valuable, Easy, Essential 4. Keep it short But not vague: “5 tips that will change your life” might not be the one for you. It could be about
Seriously though, you can use a tool such as Google AdWords Keyword Planner to find a relevant keyword that has decent search volume with low competition. Get that brilliant content found! If you would like help with crafting your content, please call 01522 581 911 and a member of our team will be happy to help.
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Why smart people set objectives . . . Thomas Jacobs, Fill the Gap Marketing Objectives are vital to ensure the success of any project. It can be what steers you in the right direction and what helps you to reach that essential end goal. SMART objectives are something we use on a daily basis to ensure our clients know what they want to achieve, and shows them how their marketing can accomplish this. Before any marketing activity begins, you need to know what you hope to achieve from it. Having no goal for your marketing is like going for a drive without knowing where you want to go. It’s all about planning time for some marketing thinking, before any marketing communicating begins. This will help to improve the return on your marketing investment. So what exactly are SMART objectives? They are: 1. Specific It will work in your favour if objectives are specific. Whether that is a specific amount of sales, the number of people you would like to reach or a level of profit, specifying your key performance indicators will make it clear and rewarding when you achieve your goal. 2. Measurable Measuring your success is key to refining your processes. Keep tabs on what works and what doesn’t. If it
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isn’t working, make a change and try something else. This helps you to make the most of your marketing time and budget. 3. Achievable Your objectives must be achievable. If you have no chance of succeeding, there really is no point in setting that goal. More so, failure to achieve objectives will damage team morale. Set smaller and achievable goals, and then you’ll be able to reach your targets. 4. Realistic As nice as it would be to have superpowers, like the ability to control time, don’t challenge yourself
to do 30 hours of work in 30 minutes. It may appear like a good objective but it is a failure waiting to happen. Stay realistic and that will help you to stay motivated. 5. Time The final step is all about keeping track of time and setting yourself deadlines that you can stick to. Clear deadlines give you something to work towards and sticking to these deadlines will keep you on top of your work load. Do you need help getting a marketing plan ready for 2017? We’d love to help, call us on 01522 851 911. Stay SMART.
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Introduction to Inbound marketing - part three. . . Richard Mawer, Digital Media Edge
leads and prospects in the quickest way possible.
Step #2 – Implementing Your Inbound Strategy
Headline – Keep it short and sweet, nowadays people don’t have the attention span when it comes to reading content online. If you want to grab their attention you need to be concise and make sure that what you’re offering is as clear as possible. You can test this by using the ‘Blink Test’, can they understand the offer and what you’re asking them to do within five seconds? If the answer is yes you’ve nailed it.
No ideas are good ideas without action. By now you should have developed a strategy that will work best for your business. It is time to implement those ideas through content that will speak directly to your prospects and their pains. This is all about generating leads through your site and the content on it. Content A great place to start is to create a “content calendar” or schedule to help you strategize your content marketing. This will allow you to know in advance what content is being posted on different social media platforms, what emails you should be sending out, if you need to shoot any videos and what whitepapers to publish. Once you master this it will make everything so much easier in regards to providing prospects with content that has informational value, it will keep them engaged and urge them to give you their contact information. Exchanging this information will help them to transition into the next part of the decision-making process. Landing Page When it comes to creating an engaging landing page, less is more. There are several components that you will need to include to help convert visitors into
Body Copy – Carrying on the theme of keeping it simple, you need to provide your visitors with a short description of what you’re offering, whether it is a free guide or content not publicly available. It should be no more than 100 words; the use of bullet points will be helpful in this situation to simplify the layout and highlight the main points you are trying to convey. Images – A block of text isn’t going to intrigue your visitors and make them want to hand over their information. By showing them a sample of what they will be receiving you can instantly grab their attention. Video – A quick video can form a relationship with a prospect in a way that text and images are unable to do. Our advice is to keep it to less than 2 mins and follow the following formula: Who are you ? What do you have ? Why do they need it? How do they get it ?
landing page is to generate leads and including a form helps you to do this. However, you will want to keep in mind that it shouldn’t be too long or viewers may see it as a waste of time. While short forms will generate more leads, longer forms can allow you to collect more information for higher quality leads. Calls To Action (CTAs) You’ve created the perfect landing page that will offer your prospects with everything they need to become a lead…but how will you drive lots of traffic your way? The answer lies in CTAs. Lead Nurturing You’ve managed to gain the attention of your visitors and have received a filled in form from them, what now? Creating a lead nurturing campaign that is made up of automated emails and other communication to educate and gain the respect of the prospect is the next step. By offering them informative content that is tailored with them in mind, it will lay down the foundation for a long-term relationship that will make it easier for a sale to go through. Next Month – Promoting Your Inbound Marketing
The Form – The outcome of a
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Price tag: It's all about the money . . . Joanne Wilson, Fill the Gap Marketing One way of deciding your price is by working out how much it costs you to produce or deliver your product or service, and then adding a margin. But that’s not the only way. Have you considered a strategic pricing strategy? What if you could charge much more than you do now for no extra cost? People don’t always buy on price. The purchase decision is often based on emotion as much as logic. How often do you choose something in the middle price bracket – because you want something quite good, not the cheapest, but you can’t justify the most expensive? In this scenario we are basing our judgement on the quality of the product based on its price. Price tells its own story.
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Very often we assume a product is of inferior quality because it is cheap and therefore we might not buy it. If you saw a Rolex watch in a shop on sale at £50 would you buy it? Probably not because your instinct would tell you that it might be broken / stolen / a copy. I was shopping in my local town this weekend, and my young son wanted a pencil for school – a very specific one his friend had which looked like a giraffe. So I found myself investigating pencils! I never did find the giraffe one, but in one well know high street stationery shop there was a red pencil with times tables written all over it and a rubber on the end. It was £1.39. In my search for the giraffe pencil, I then went to a different shop, equally well known on the high street but for household goods as well as stationery. They had that exact same red pencil: In a pack of
6, for just £1.59. The shops were virtually next door to each other. I’m not privy to how many pencils each store sells and what the profit margin is but I’m assuming people buy these pencils in both shops. Possibly even more in the first shop because it specialises in stationery. The thing that is most valuable to your customers might not be the thing that is the most expensive for you to produce. Talk to your customers. Find out what they value most. Research your market. Could you increase your prices? If you would like Jo Wilson to speak about pricing at your conference or networking event, please get in touch.
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2017 you: I've got some bad news . . . Lee Callender, Mail Magic
towards the end of the year.
I have some bad news for you.
You might think thats cool, especially if you have smashed it out of the park this year…
Something that, if you don't get on top of now, and nip in the bud, could potentially cause you to miss all of your goals in 2017. Most people don't realise it but they are already behind where they want to be in 2017. You might think that's a big statement, and frankly you would be right, but I promise you it’s true! But bear with me on this one….. About this time of year some business owners, and certainly staff (I spoke to a mate today who used this exact phrase, don’t worry ‘D’ I won’t drop you in it buddy) start to put the breaks on and coast slowly
But there is no doubt it is going to come back and kick you in the ass at the start of 2017 and here is why... Momentum! Think about it, a train doesn’t pull out of the station at 100 miles an hour, it take 3/4 miles to gradually build up speed and reach top speed. Even though it was doing 100mph only a mile or so from the station before it stopped. It takes time… Don't be that person. Taking a breather is potentially
the most dangerous thing you can do for your business. Instead, take action now to make these next 4-5 weeks productive, so that you carry some serious momentum into 2017. I have a couple of email marketing planning tools that I have been sharing with clients over the last month or so. If you want to join my little community and have your email marketing planned and ready to go (if your quick you can even set in motion a teaser campaign this side of Christmas) drop me an email lee@mail-magic.co.uk with 'Help me please Lee' as the subject line and I will fire over everything you need to get started.
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