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Autumn ‘16
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Welcome to the second issue of The Alchemist, which aims to highlight the latest developments in the world of marketing and showcase some of the great client projects we have worked on in the last few months. If this is the first time you have come across us, we’re a strategic marketing agency helping clients deliver their marketing activities and achieve goals. We have all the skills and services that you need within your company to constitute a full marketing and PR department, meaning we can compliment your existing team or you can outsource your entire marketing strategy to us.
We would love to know what you think of our newspaper, so please send us your thoughts at hello@ thecreativealchemist.co.uk or get in touch on social. Happy reading! 01/ Effective marketing - it’s all about the plan! 02/ Introducing… Instagram Business Profiles 02/ What do your customers really want? 03/ From Riverside to Russia: Teesside film company reveals worldwide project for the Premier League 03/ Raising your profile with content marketing 04/ Archers Law launches major rebrand 04/ Need social media inspo?
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EFFECTIVE MARKETING IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PLAN! Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. That’s what they say, right? There are huge benefits to planning your marketing well in advance, as well as having an overarching annual strategy which gives your brand direction and drives your campaigns. Planning your brand’s marketing campaigns and setting out your overall strategy makes the implementation of different initiatives straight-forward, as well as ensuring you’re one step ahead of the competition. Establishing relationships with potential customers can take time, so determining your marketing activities well in advance is imperative if you want to achieve smarter and sharper campaigns which bring in results. But what is a strategy? A marketing strategy covers your overall purpose and shapes any marketing tactics put in place. A strategy should be formed by your brand’s goals, which you can then measure your success by the achievement of those goals. When launching a new business, product or service, it is critical that you have more than just a marketing plan, you need a strategy - you can’t effectively have one without the other. Mark Ritson recently wrote an interesting post for Marketing Week on the importance of having a strategy in the marketing industry “If marketers want to be taken seriously they must end their preoccupation with tactics and tools and focus on their strategy, devised by thoroughly researching, segmenting and targeting their market” he said, and we have to agree! Here are some tips from the team at The Creative Alchemist to help you get ahead of the game and start planning your 2017 marketing strategy...
_Define your brand What’s your offer? What are your key benefits and features? What makes you different? This bit can be tough and timeconsuming as it often requires some business soul searching, but once complete you will reap the benefits of this clarity. Start defining your brand and planning your strategy around this as early as possible to maximise the potential to reach your customers – think about what you want to achieve, and how you can get there.
_Define your core customer Construct an avatar of them – illustrating who they are, where they live, what they like to do etc. If you know who your core customer is you can go about finding them with ease.
_Be creative with your marketing
_Consider event planning
Work with an experienced designer to create a visual identity that is clear and distinctive for your campaigns. If you’ve no experience and you design your own materials in Word, it’s likely this isn’t going to cut it against your competition. Now is the perfect time to refresh your marketing materials and design new ones to help bring in new customers.
_Prepare your social media strategy Throughout the year, audience engagement can be up and down. Plan your social strategy around key dates in the calendar well ahead of time. You can even use a scheduling tool to do so, but try not to rely too much on this – social media should always have a personable feel to it and you need to be able to respond in person to questions and enquiries.
Find us at Boho One, Bridge Street West, Middlesbrough, TS2 1AE 01642 224706
Events are a great way to gather your customers, both new and existing. Figure out the exact purpose of your event, and plan it backwards detailing every action which needs completing up until the day.
_Focus on customer emotions For many people, national holidays including Easter and Christmas are emotional times of the year as they start to think about the season and all the preparation that goes into it. This emotional connection with your customers is a powerful tool and as a brand, you can capitalise on this by offering a creative solution to a problem around these times.
CREATIVITY + STRATEGY + DELIVERY + EVALUATION = RESULTS
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Introducing… Instagram Business Profiles Instagram recently announced the launch of a new feature that enables small businesses to switch to a ‘business profile’ to promote themselves and collect information about users - the equivalent to Facebook’s brand pages. The image-sharing app is rolling out Business Profiles in Europe to serve the majority of its 200,000 advertisers that are small businesses. Unlike the original personal profiles, the feature lets companies add a contact button that allows users to connect directly with them via the app, quickly signaling to people on Instagram that it is a business. Users are also able to get directions to the business within the new contact button and access to an insights tool, which allows brands to use a number of metrics to see if what they’re doing on Instagram is working.
Small businesses are some of the most creative and innovative in our community, and it’s incredible how many businesses have grown using the platform. But we want to make Instagram work even better for them, so we listened carefully to their feedback to understand challenges they face and the tools they need to drive real business results. Amy Cole, Head of Brand Development for EMEA at Instagram
To convert to the new Instagram Business Profile, simply:
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Go to your profile and tap the Settings button.
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Tap ‘Switch to Business Profile’.
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On the ‘Connect Your Facebook Page’ screen, you’ll see all of the Facebook Pages you’re currently an admin on. Select the Page you’d like to associate with your Business Profile on Instagram.
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On the ‘Set Up Your Business Profile’ page, review your business’s contact information, make any changes and tap Done.
The tools are currently being rolled out across the UK and Europe, so keep your eyes peeled for the option to switch your profile!
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What do your customers really want?
In a world of constantly shifting consumer expectations, it’s crucial that you understand who your target audience is and then look at the customer journey from their point of view, as well as from your own brand too. You have to have an intimate understanding of the people you are trying to reach in order to motivate them to take action with your brand.
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Segment, segment, segment! Before you can understand your audience, you need to pinpoint exactly who they are. The idea is to break the audience into smaller groups and then target your strategy to each group based on their commonalities, which is known in marketing as segmentation. Different people respond to different messages, so you should be as specific as possible when you identify your target segments. You can then dig deeper and focus on your key customer groups by drawing up a profile for each of them, including age, gender, name, personality traits and even their end goal from using your product or service. Customer profiling is a great way for you to understand what makes a specific group tick, which means you can effectively market to them.
Knowing your audience is the cornerstone of all your marketing efforts. To understand your customers well, you need to be aware of their actions, thoughts and processes which can ultimately increase customer loyalty and bring in new business through positive word-of-mouth recommendations. Here are four ways to help your brand understand your customers...
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Understanding your customers requires you to focus on the customer journey (the points at which your customers have contact with your business). These include everything from the initial contact with your brand, right through to the purchase process and ongoing customer service. Various points in the customer journey could affect your brand and make a potential or existing customer feel either loved or disappointed. Understanding your customers and improving your service must be a priority throughout your business - regardless of your size, industry or type of product or service. Everyone from the front desk to the delivery staff should focus on exceeding your customer’s expectations!
The fourth way to gain an understanding of your customers is simply to ask them what they think. One specific way to achieve this is through focus groups. A focus group is a small group of people who are asked a series of questions about your brand’s products or services. The group may consist of a cross section of people from society or be made up specifically of potential customers, depending on your aims. Focus groups allow you and your brand to gain a deeper insight into your customer’s thoughts and record your findings for future reference. We have successfully implemented a range of focus groups for our clients, which have provided them with invaluable feedback on various products and services.
Walk a mile in your customer’s shoes
Don’t be shy - ask them!
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Dig into the data Your company’s database will hold valuable information on each of your existing and potential customers. It will help you to understand their needs and what makes them tick to market effectively to them. Set time aside to regularly explore the data you have - look for patterns and anomalies, analyse your customer’s buyer behaviour so you can see when your customers typically make orders and use analytics to see website trends.
For more information on how The Creative Alchemist can help your brand with market research, get in touch today.
Find us at Boho One, Bridge Street West, Middlesbrough, TS2 1AE 01642 224706
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From Riverside to Russia Teesside film company reveals worldwide project for the Premier League A Teesside company has completed an exciting new film project for Middlesbrough FC’s return to the Premier League, which aims to showcase the town from a new perspective in over 600m homes around the globe.
Matt McGough, Managing Director of Ithica Films, on location with colleague Jack Holmes.
Middlesbrough-based Ithica Films - which employs five full-time staff - filmed footage at over thirty locations around the town, and the results were revealed in time for the club’s long-awaited return to the Premier League in August. The project was filmed in partnership with Middlesbrough Council and will be featured regularly on Premier League TV’s online and TV content as a promotional intro to Middlesbrough’s televised matches along with travel guides. The footage features numerous iconic landmarks, including the town’s Bedford and Baker Streets, as well as The Transporter Bridge, Brian Clough statue and the Riverside Stadium. Premier League TV is the official broadcaster for all Premier Leagues games throughout the world, which is watched by over 600m homes in over 50 countries outside the UK. Matt McGough, MD of Ithica Films, spoke about the opportunity to showcase Middlesbrough to the
RAISING YOUR PROFILE WITH CONTENT MARKETING IN THE MODERN CREATIVE INDUSTRY, EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT CONTENT MARKETING - BUT WHAT IS IT, AND HOW CAN YOU USE IT TO EFFECTIVELY RAISE YOUR PROFILE?
We’re big believers in the power of film so to see the response to our work is really rewarding. world, saying, “This was a fantastic way for us to collaborate with Middlesbrough Council in a way to show the town with fresh eyes using modern filmmaking techniques. We approached this as a real opportunity to create a distinctive image of our area and craft something really unique. The feedback from the Premier League Production team has been amazing so it’s been a real privilege to use our skills in this way. ” All of the footage was filmed using state of the art Put simply, content marketing is the term given to the process of creating and sharing valuable free content to attract and convert potential customers into customers, and customers into loyal brand advocates. The type of content you share should be closely related to your products, services and industry which you operate in, to educate people so that they know, like, and trust you enough to do business with you. Content marketing isn’t a new thing - it’s been around for many years with numerous businesses already successfully implementing content marketing campaigns. However, it has changed. It’s evolved into an indispensable pillar of any successful marketing strategy in more recent years thanks to the availability of instant information through blogs, social media and online news platforms. The key to a successful campaign is to create engaging, educational and actionable content - think about what your consumers would want to read, what they would be willing to sign-up for and where they would want to read it. There’s no correct content to write, and the topics will vary depending on
technology, including a drone which allowed for aerial views of the town. “Our main objective as a business is to showcase everyday locations or items from a new perspective. We add a cinematic eye to everything we film, and the footage of Middlesbrough is another great example of that. We’re big believers in the power of film so to see the response to our work is really rewarding” Matt added. The reaction to the footage has been welcomed by residents of Middlesbrough with the company’s Facebook video post attracting over 25,000 views. The Creative Alchemist is working closely with Ithica Films to define and develop their brand. Through a series of workshops they have developed their brand identity and marketing strategy and have recently started work on refreshing their website, social media presence and PR. For more information on Ithica Films, and to view the video footage, visit the company’s Facebook page.
what industry you’re in and who makes up your target audience, but regardless of this, you need to produce content that captures consumers’ attentions. This will help you establish trust with your audiences and reach new customers. An effective content marketing strategy can also help you in other areas of your business. What about using your content to gain PR exposure so that your media contact is not only inspired by your story, they are inspired by you as a person or your brand? By raising your profile with interesting and knowledgeable content, you are effectively promoting yourself, not just to your customers but to the wider industry, potential employees and the media. Your media contacts become inspired by you as a person as well as your business, and interested in what you have to say because it comes from you, which increases the likelihood of your future PR campaigns being published. Juicy content can also provide additional benefits in that it supports many other digital marketing channels. It provides additional (and much more natural!)
content for social media and contributes to search engine optimisation (SEO) by generating links to your website and other content articles. Good website content is also found by search engines, which can help you move up the rankings too, so it’s win-win for you and your brand! Google ranks websites based on the unique content that’s written for humans to read and enjoy, rather than search algorithms. When your audience finds your content appealing and useful, that will naturally drive social shares and organic links to help move up in search results. SEO is an ever-changing industry. Gone are the days of writing articles heavily-laden with ‘keywords’ that exclusively promote your brand and products. Consumers are seeking solutions to their issues and answers to their questions, so serve up content that directly relates to their needs. Of course, your products and services may ultimately provide those solutions and answers, but purely promotional and ‘salesy’ content risks pushing your audience away. People want to feel like they’ve been helped, not sold to.
CREATIVITY + STRATEGY + DELIVERY + EVALUATION = RESULTS
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Archers Law launches major rebrand Teesside based law firm, Archers Law, has revealed a new brand identity - the first rebrand for the company in over 10 years.
The new brand positioning and logo has been designed by The Creative Alchemist and rolled out across a range of materials including a new desktop and mobile website and signage, as well as various marketing and communication materials for customers. The agency worked in collaboration with other local businesses to launch the new brand including Billingham Press, Symbol Signs, Calm Digital and Dave Charnley Photography. Vicky Browning, Practice Director at Archers Law, spoke about the rebrand, saying “We’re thrilled with our rebrand and new identity developed with The Creative Alchemist. It truly represents our core values with a simple, modern and sophisticated yet warm tone. With recent changes in the partnership and management of the firm it was the perfect time for Archers Law to redefine our brand positioning with a fresher image.” A central component of the new brand is the company’s new logo, which demonstrates a clean design aesthetic with vibrant colours, and an emphasis on straightforward, results-orientated messaging. Beccy Owen from The Creative Alchemist, who developed the new brand identity, also said “The rebrand for Archers Law is smart and modern, with a welcoming feel. We created a modernised identity, making use of the diamond shape to convey a sense of quality and professionalism - something that has been embedded into the brand since it was established over 150 years ago.” “The diamond can also be used to ‘focus in’ on key words, graphics or photos, helping them convey that the focus really is on the customer” she added. Throughout the past 12 months, Archers Law has experienced significant growth, strengthening a number of teams across the business. The business now employs 60 staff in its Stocktonbased office. Since launching, the new identity has even been featured in ‘Transform’, a global branding magazine. Take a look at the new brand at www.archerslaw.co.uk
Need social media inspo?
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Social media is a key component to any brand’s marketing strategy. But what if you’re not quite sure what to say on social, or why you should be doing it? According to a survey conducted by research firm Clutch, almost half (47%) of small businesses aren’t actively using social media. When you consider the branding and sales power of social media platforms including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, that stat might seem surprising. But for many, introducing a brand into the world of social media is still very overwhelming.
If you’re one of the 47%, ‘Likeable Social Media’ by Dave Kerpen is the book for you. Using clear how-to instructions, he provides you with all of the information and tools necessary to engage customers in a digital world. His advice is practical, concise and helps you leverage the human side of your business. You can grab a digital or printed copy of the book from Amazon today, or alternatively, get in touch with The Creative Alchemist today for advice on building a social media strategy.
Find us at Boho One, Bridge Street West, Middlesbrough, TS2 1AE 01642 224706
CREATIVITY + STRATEGY + DELIVERY + EVALUATION = RESULTS