1. Check out Coach on the CouchPrecious Marketing Gems from Jo Sealy
Have You Got Mail?
Sending out newsletters is one of the best – and cheapest - ways of building relationships with clients. It’s effective, affordable, targeted, immediate and measurable.
Your newsletters are doing lots of your work for you. They are relationship building between you and your clients, driving traffic to your website and helping you to build sales. And there are many web-based email marketing packages out there to choose from.
Some basics:
1. Are you adding all of your new clients to your email list? Every
single new client of enquiry should be added onto your list. That way you’ll
get the best coverage and the most responses.
2. Are you sending your e-newsletters out regularly enough? Statistics seem
to show that most people only read about one in every 4 emails they receive
properly. So, if you’re sending out weekly emails your clients are likely to
only read one monthly and if you’re sending out monthly mailers they are likely
to be reading one fully every four months. Frequency depends largely on your
area of business.
3. Is your content relevant? Sending out e-newsletters shouldn’t be about the
hard sell. Remembers, it’s about relationship and brand building. Make sure
your content is information your clients want to read, is visually stimulating
and that there’s not too much of it.
4. There’s been a lot of research to show that it takes between 5 and 7 contacts
with a new client before they want to buy your services. So adding a new client
to your mailing list doesn’t guarantee an immediate sale. But remember, if
you don’t put them on the mailing list you won’t have any contact with them
at all. So add all new clients to your mailing list ASAP.
5. Do you encourage your clients to forward your e-newsletters on to their
colleagues? The more people you have finding out about you and your services,
the quicker and better your business will grow.
Happy Marketing!
Blind faith or loyalty programmes??
How can you keep your clients coming back to your business? Creative marketing and new technology (e-marketing, e-surveys, and retail software packages for example) have transformed traditional loyalty programmes and lifted them to a whole new level.
Let’s be clear, this is much more than your loyalty stamp from your local Greggs bakery (though it has its place), gathering points or simply gift chasing.
‘Smart’ loyalty programmes join together a collection of loyalty-inspiring brand behaviours. They require more specific client targeting, with the creation of information, offers and deals that really matter to that target group.
For example, a bespoke shoe designer’s clients are likely to value being in on the latest trends in fashion, with exclusive access to the latest collections. Or a beauty salon might focus on its fifty most influential professional clients with chauffeured services or exclusive all-in-one packages.
This more panoramic approach to loyalty provides a valuable spin-off compared to the more one-dimensional ‘stamped card’ approach. You can have different conversations with your clients. You can learn more about their likes, dislikes and expectations. And as a result, you can tailor your business’s brand to help you attract many more of the same and get rid of the guesswork.
Remember - do just a little bit of marketing, every day.
Happy Marketing!
Download
Better Marketing In Just 7 Days
Jo Sealy runs www.to-market.co.uk and www.josealyphotography.com contact
her at jo@to-market.co.uk
What’s the future of marketing?
Although 2009 was a difficult year, there’s no doubt that it has forced many
businesses to look closely at the kind of engagement they have with their
clients and how it can support sales.
So what does this mean to you?
1. It is essential to have meaningful conversations with your current and potential clients. The starting point for that is to have a clean and current database.
2. Have a clear understanding of social media and how this is used by your clients in its various forms. The 24 hour effects of social media cannot be ignored – work out how you can capitalise on it.
3. Future marketing is about personalising your messages and activities to acquire and maintain clients; ignore this at your peril.
Take note - the biggest brands are spending time and money on engaging with their customers and involving them in all of their communications.
Smaller enterprises can have the upper hand in this revolution. You are closer to your clients; you can respond more quickly and intuitively to make the difference between a happy, delighted, and most importantly, loyal customer.
Remember - do just a little bit of marketing, every day.
Download
Better Marketing In Just 7 Days
Precious Marketing Gems from Jo Sealy
2010 is here – are you struggling to get your marketing act together?
With a whole new year ahead of you, you probably don’t need to be told that
this is the best time to put new plans into place.
So what are you waiting for?
1. Take time out right now to think about where you want your business to be
by the end of 2010. Do you want to get into a new area of business? Do you
need to learn new skills to take you there?
2. Think about what marketing you need to be doing to support those aims. If
you’re moving into a new area of business, who is your target market and how
are people going to hear about it? What marketing media should you be using
– e-marketing? Direct mail? Cold calling?
3. If you still need a push to get you started, then download a copy of our
free e-book, Better
Marketing In Just Seven Days.
It'll kick start your marketing planning. And you'll be able to take a leaf
out of the book - to do just a little bit of marketing, every day.
Happy Marketing!
Jo Sealy runs www.to-market.co.uk and www.josealyphotography.com or on 07980 117725.
Branding Basics
Think branding and you may immediately think about the logo that is on your business cards, letterheads, products or vehicles. But branding is much more than just a word or symbol used to identify products and companies.
Simply put, your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates you from your competitors. Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be.
So how can you develop your brand to ensure that it is always in the
minds of your customers?
• Get a great logo. Place it everywhere.
• Write down your brand messages. What are the key
messages you want to communicate about your brand? Make sure that all of
your employees are familiar with your brand attributes.
• Integrate your brand. This is essential! Branding extends to every aspect
of your business--how you answer your phones, what you or your salespeople
wear on sales calls, your e-mail signature, everything.
• Create a "voice" for
your company that reflects your brand. This voice should be applied to
all written communication
and incorporated in the visual imagery of all materials, online and off. Is
your brand friendly? Be conversational. Is it ritzy? Be more formal.
• Develop a tagline. Write a memorable, meaningful and concise statement that
captures the essence of your brand.
• Design templates and create brand standards for your marketing materials.
Use the same colour scheme, logo placement, look and feel throughout. You don't
need to be fancy, just consistent.
• Be true to your brand. Customers won't return to you--or refer you to someone
else - if you don't deliver on your brand promise.
Above all, be consistent.
Jo Sealy has over 20 years experience of marketing, media and broadcasting.
Her business www.to-market.co.uk enables businesses to improve sales by marketing themselves more effectively.
To|Market provides marketing planning, writing and photography services.
Request Jo’s free e-book - Better Marketing in Just 7 Days – at : Jo@to-market.co.uk or on 07980 117725.
A little goes a long way
Welcome to niche marketing - simply put, marketing to client groups
that fit the profile of your target market. When you narrow who you market
to, a few things happen:
1. Your offer becomes more desirable, less muddy and more distinct.
2. Your name and brand spreads rapidly, as clients can easily link you to specific
operations.
3. As a result, it becomes easier and less expensive to prospect for new clients
The key to success when communicating to your niche is to do it in a
way that makes it fast, inexpensive and effective. This might include speaking
at industry conferences and trade shows, writing articles for your industry's
trade publications or joining the networking organisations of your target
groups.
Try it. You’ll find that a curious thing happens – you’ll become much
more focused rather than trying to spread yourself thinly trying to capture
everybody.
Jo Sealy has over 20 years experience of marketing, media and broadcasting. Her business www.to-market.co.uk enables businesses to improve sales by marketing themselves more effectively. To|Market provides marketing planning, writing and photography services. Request Jo’s free e-book - Better Marketing in Just 7 Days – at : Jo@to-market.co.uk or on 07980 117725.
Win more sales with less effort
Not following up with your prospects and clients is just plain crazy. Yet how
many of you go to a business or networking event, happily accept business
cards and then don’t follow up? Or complete an order and don’t pursue the
opportunity of further work?
A good follow up marketing system should have three attributes:
1. It should be systematic, following a process that is the same every time.
It could be as simple as: order delivered, email/phone call within 48 hours
to check all is satisfactory with the client. Or: Put all business cards from
an event in a tray to be given a follow up email within 48 hours.
2. It should generate consistent results. i.e. a list of new warm prospects
for your mailing list.
3. It should require minimal physical interaction to make it run.
Follow up marketing and systematic processes, once established, make for common
business sense. You will keep new and/or prospects warm, secure better closing
rates and can dramatically increase your client satisfaction.
Jo Sealy has over 20 years experience of marketing, media and broadcasting. Her business www.to-market.co.uk enables businesses to improve sales by marketing themselves more effectively. To|Market provides marketing planning, writing and photography services. Request Jo’s free e-book - Better Marketing in Just 7 Days – at : Jo@to-market.co.uk or on 07980 117725.
How do you decide what marketing media you should be using?
Dividing up your marketing budget among the many available media choices can
be difficult. Taking up the first deal that comes your way isn't the best
way of planning out your marketing investment. So how do you decide on the
best marketing mix?
Ask yourself five questions:
1. Who is my target market?
2. Which media does my target market listen to, read or watch?
3. Which media can extend my message to the most people in my target market per
marketing pound?
4. What are my advertising objectives and how well do this media help me to accomplish
them?
5. How well will this media allow me to measure the return on my marketing?
If you can answer these you will be able to then create a considered media plan and style of message that will appeal directly to your target market.
Jo Sealy has over 20 years experience of marketing, media and broadcasting. Her business www.to-market.co.uk enables businesses to improve sales by marketing themselves more effectively. To|Market provides marketing planning, writing and photography services. Request Jo’s free e-book - Better Marketing in Just 7 Days – at : Jo@to-market.co.uk or on 07980 117725.
How loyal are your customers?
Delivering a quality product or service goes without saying to ensure happy customers.
But are they loyal?
As a Precious member, you will already understand that loyal customers
not only come back to do business, they tell their friends and associates
about your company. However, if you feel that by having a satisfied customer
you will have a loyal customer, you’d be wrong.Because when you take time to really examine the differences between satisfied
and loyal, it becomes obvious that they are not alike at all. For example, how many times have you gone to a shop to buy a magazine?
You find the expected magazine, pay for it and leave. You're satisfied.
But are you necessarily loyal? What does it take to transform satisfied customers into loyal customers?
Loyalty usually develops when customers get involved with the company above the normal transaction. Strangely, this often takes the form of a problem that is solved in an extraordinary way and forces the customer to recognize the individual care. Others occur when employees form a relationship with the customer by providing individual service that elevates the transaction from impersonal to the personal.
The common denominator is that a relationship is formed. Whether caused by a problem or extraordinary service, loyalty occurs because of proactive employees and management, seldom because of day to day transactions, regardless of customer longevity.
Take a look at the characteristics of satisfied and loyal customers:
Satisfied customers:
• Will continue doing business until something better comes along, whether
better location, better price or better variety.
• No relationship formed.
• No personal interaction.
• See business as impersonal, only doing business with a company, not with
a person.
Loyal customers:
• Forgives and understands minor problems.
• Not price sensitive.
• Will help sell the business with word-of-mouth advertising.
• Will not jump at the next "pretty
face ".
It is obvious which is the more desirable customer. The challenge is to be proactive in switching customers from satisfied to loyal customers. Having an extraordinary refund policy is a first step. Here’s where you don’t just "satisfy" your customers, you completely blow them away. OK, so this may be a little bit more expensive, but in the long run it will pay off in multiples and without the massive advertising expense required to lure back customers that you've had.
Remember it is much tougher to get customers back the second time.
Do you have a specific plan for building customer loyalty? The high cost
of landing new customers, versus the high profitability of a loyal customer
base, means that you might want to reflect upon your current business
strategy.
These four factors will greatly affect your ability to build a loyal customer
base:
1. Products or services that are highly differentiated from those of the
competition.
2. Higher-end products or services where price is not the primary buying
factor.
3. Products or services with a high service component.
4. Multiple products or services for the same customer.
So how do you provide that surprising buying experience that differentiates
your business? Here are some ideas:
1. Review how you conduct business:
Does the current set up encourage your team to develop relationships?
Does your team have the ability to be flexible and autonomous to please
customers, even if it might gray a black and white policy?
Emphasize to all employees the benefits of customer loyalty over customer satisfaction.
2. Market To Your Own Customers!
It pays to build marketing programmes aimed at your current clients to build
customer loyalty.
When you buy a new car, many dealers will, within minutes, try to sell
you an extended warranty or an upgraded alarm system. It's often a very easy
sale and costs the dealer almost nothing to make. Are there additional products
or services you can sell your customers?
Keep all the information you can on your customers old and new; follow
up with them and don't hesitate to ask for the next sale.
3. Use Complaints To Build Business!
When customers aren't happy with your business they usually won't complain
to you - instead, they'll probably complain to just about everyone else they
know - and take their business to your competition next time. Make follow-up
calls or send a satisfaction questionnaire after a sale is made or you complete
work with a customer. If you promptly follow up and resolve a customer's complaint,
the customer might be even more likely to do business than the average customer
who didn't have a complaint.
In many business situations, the customer will have many more interactions
after the sale with technical, service, or customer support people than they
did with your sales people. So if you're serious about retaining customers
or getting referrals, these interactions are the ones that are really going
to matter. They really should be handled with the same attention and focus
that sales calls get because in a way they are sales calls for repeat business.
4. Reach Out To Your Customers!
Contact with current customers is a good way to build their loyalty. The
more the customer sees someone - or at the very least receives a communication
from your company - the more likely you'll get the next order. Send Christmas
cards, see them at trade shows, stop by to make sure everything's okay.
Send a simple newsletter to your customers. Tell them about the great things
that are happening at your business and include some useful information for
them. Send them copies of any media clippings about your firm. Invite them
to free seminars. The more they know about you, the more they see you as an
expert, someone out to help them, the more they know about your accomplishments
- the more loyal a customer they will be.
Jo Sealy has over 20 years experience of marketing, media and broadcasting. Her business www.to-market.co.uk enables businesses to improve sales by marketing themselves more effectively. To|Market provides marketing planning, writing and photography services. Request Jo’s free e-book - Better Marketing in Just 7 Days – at : Jo@to-market.co.uk or on 07980 117725.
How are you dealing with the recession?
These are undeniably challenging times for Britain’s entrepreneurs. Marketing expert Jo Sealy of To|Market provides a bite sized marketing menu that will focus your activities and improve your business prospects.
Precious members will be experiencing the dramatic change in the business environment. The evidence is plain for you to see - in your order books.
It’s essential that you create a realistic, workable marketing plan that will
keep your business continuously and consistently in the minds of your existing
and potential clients now and for the future.
So how do you begin to create your marketing plan? Here are some pointers:
1. Tune into your market and understand the competition.
Fulfill needs that are not being met. Can you spot any new trends? What can you offer that’s different from the competition? What are the weaknesses in your competition’s offering that you can capitalise on? If you fully understand your market and what it wants then you are in a position to be able to sell your product or service to that market.
2. What does your customer have for breakfast?
I’m always amazed by how little some business owners really know about
their customers. I’m not talking about just where they trade from and their
size. I mean the stuff that, when used properly, makes the customer think
‘Y’know, this company really knows and understands me’. Specifically – what
do they actually want, where do they live, shop, eat, what motivates them
to buy? It’s a fact that the business that knows its customer intimately will steal
a march on its competitors.
3. Think small to get big.
I’m talking about business niches here – not necessarily small, just
off the mainstream and less crowded. There’s no point saying you’re marketing
to everybody, because you’ll end up capturing nobody. You’ll spread your marketing
budget thinly, have little focus and be disappointed with results. Smaller
businesses need to focus! Carve out a specific niche, dominate it and let
your customers know your business is the expert in that field.
4. Got the right message?
Your marketing message is a powerful, clear, concise and distinct statement
of what your business does. The short version is your response to someone
who asks you, “So, what do you do?”. The longer version is the one that is
included in all of your marketing materials and promotions and explains (amongst
other things) your target’s problem, explains why you can solve that problem
and the benefits people will receive from using your solution. Make it compelling,
persuasive and relevant to your target market.
5. What’s your route to market?
How do you decide on the best marketing medium for your product/service?
The various new forms of media – blogs, viral, social networking sites
- offer exciting new alternatives and complements to traditional approaches.
If you understand your customer well enough, you will be able to select
relevant media and use your marketing budget effectively. Remember to choose
media that gives you the best return – one that delivers your marketing
message to the most niche prospects at the lowest possible cost.
6. Keep your eyes on the main prize.
Research and planning are great of course, but it’s important to understand
the end goal. What are your hard financial targets, for sales and gross profit?
And your non-financial targets – contracts signed, clients acquired, articles
published, etc? Your marketing activity should support your target sales.
Make sure that your goals are Smart, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and
Timely!
7. Speculate to accumulate
How do you decide what your marketing budget should be? There isn’t one hard and fast rule. If your company has a track record, guidelines suggest the budget should be a percentage of sales. Alternatively, if you’re a new business owner it’s worth starting your budget with all you can afford. This amount, however small, will give a start in a positive direction.
Jo Sealy has over 20 years experience of marketing, media and broadcasting. Her business www.to-market.co.uk enables businesses to improve sales by marketing themselves more effectively. To|Market provides marketing planning, writing and photography services. Request Jo’s free e-book - Better Marketing in Just 7 Days – at : Jo@to-market.co.uk or on 07980 117725.
30 Essential Ideas to Drive Website Sales
Jo Sealy of To|Market provides the first of a series of marketing columns to help you through these challenging times. This month - practical tips to increase visitors to your website and improve your online marketing prospects.
These are certainly challenging times for business aren’t they? As a Precious member you’ll already understand the value of a good website, but what are you doing to really improve your marketing prospects to online customers?
Grab a coffee, take a five minute break and see if you could implement one of two these ideas into your online business today.
1. Create a consistent message throughout your site and ensure that your website address is on all of your marketing materials.
2. Be famous for a guarantee – it helps to remove any risk of buying.
3. Become an expert in a niche market. Let your customers know you are an expert by providing valuable information.
4. Add testimonials to your website and keep them updated. There’s nothing like a recommendation!
5. Accept major payment options on your website. Think safety, security and professionalism.
6. Add credibility – ensure that you have your trading address, director’s names, contact telephone numbers and anything else that removes the thought that you’re a fly-by-night operation.
7. Wherever possible, make shipment instant.
8. Ensure that your online shop is open 24/7 – use automated tools to keep your customers informed, reassured and happy.
9. Respond to enquiries immediately. You’ll support your company’s credibility and business brand.
10. Provide a helpline. Or at least a thorough FAQ page.
11. Create a community – these days buyers expect more from a website than just a load of products to buy.
12. Offer the best search. Visitors will want to find what they’re searching for in just a few clicks or you’ll lose them.
13. Invite customers to sign up for your newsletter and make sure it’s relevant to them.
14. Make your headlines fresh and enticing.
15. Present a standard version and premium version of your product or service. Customers can then choose their price level.
16. Put a call to action on every page and make the action button is highly visible.
17. Remove clutter, make navigation easy.
18. Minimise your site load times. People hate to wait.
19. Provide links to satisfied customers with testimonials or case studies.
20. Always thank your customer for purchasing your product or service.
21. Keep your copy simple - people respond best to conversational writing styles.
22. Remember, customers will only be interested in what your product/service will do for them.
23. Capture your prospects and add them to your database – you’ll spend less time and money generating new leads.
24. Use promotions, run competitions and prize draws. They stimulate sales activity and are a great way to capture data. Make sure yours have an irresistible offer.
25. Educate your customers as to why they should buy your product or service
26. Determine what your customers want from you and surpass their expectations
27. Say sorry if you make a mistake – and rectify it immediately.
28. Make random thank you calls. Use it as an opportunity to do some market research.
29. Make the final moment memorable. Be the business with a difference – send a simple thank you notes/chocolates/samples with every order. Why not personalise your transactions?
30. Continue to keep your clients happy after the sale. Make your follow up marketing system simple, systematic and consistent.
Jo Sealy has over 20 years experience of marketing, media and broadcasting. Her business www.to-market.co.uk enables businesses to improve sales by marketing themselves more effectively. To|Market provides marketing planning, writing and photography services. Request Jo’s free e-book - Better Marketing in Just 7 Days – at : Jo@to-market.co.uk or on 07980 117725.