Business Articles
Mix Up Your Marketing
Recently we took the plunge and switched business banking from one company to another. Before everyone nods off at the thought of an article on banking, fear not… it will get better – hopefully!
As part of the switching process, and even though we were not after an overdraft or loan (yet), we had to produce and present… The Business Plan. Having only ever really done one of these during A-Level business studies (dare I admit we “winged it” with 10Yeti’s at the start?) there was a slight amount of panic and we turned to Alan the wonderful accountant (http://www.alphalimited.co.uk) who looks after us ever so well.
Alan, as ever, duly obliged and sent over a template. Even though it only need boxes to be filled in, golly gosh it was complicated. By the time we got to the marketing section, where we could wax lyrical for 20 pages, it dawned on us that most people filling these out would have given up thinking properly by now. Call it an epiphany, call it what you like but it was at this point we starting thinking, “is this why so many small businesses fail”? The owners have a great idea but when it comes to writing the plan, by the time they get to the bit about how they are going to market their products or services they have stopped thinking rationally and just assume that word will spread.
No matter how many times we hear the phrase “but I don’t have much to spend on marketing” it is still a bit surprising. Maybe it is because we work in marketing but there is considerable argument for the fact that good businesses should always have a dedicated budget and plan for its marketing.
Even if you don’t know anything about marketing, trawl the web or even ask a marketing person you know how much they would charge you to write a plan based around your budget. Most marketing companies would offer to write the plan for free especially if you go on to use the company in question to help apply the plan. Now we move to the next hurdle, the look of fear on a small business owners face when asking a marketing person to help them write their plan!
Writing a straight forward plan, having taken the time to get to know a business can be a lengthy process, but very worth while. At 10Yeti’s we charge £100 for a marketing plan, and it is free if you use us to apply the plan. We know £100 is not a lot, but for us it is about the long haul and helping you to grow your business.
Moving on, what should go into your marketing plan? Well, here are a few tips:
Your plan is all about how you are going to announce your product or service to the market place. As a rule there are a number of elements you can use to do this, ideally, all at once consistently over a period of time, or maybe a few staggered to ensure the product stays in your target markets mind. These elements are combined and form (duck, a bit of marketing jargon is coming)… The Marketing Mix.
Examples of the bits and pieces that make up the marketing mix include: Direct Mail (sales letters), press or internet adverts, a public relations campaign, a viral or ‘word of mouth’ campaign (see the May newsletter), maybe a micro website if you are selling a product, other ads such as on the side of a bus or taxi, telesales, maybe a bit of leafleting and, what the heck, why not do some form of publicity stunt?
Now all the small business owners reading this may think, “how the Honaluloo do you expect us to afford all that”? Well, you don’t have to spend millions or even thousands for a successful campaign. You can just pick a few of the areas and go from there and even do them on a really small scale. In our experience incentivised (i.e. 10% off if you reply by xzy date) direct mail that is followed up with a call and public relations are the best performing elements of the marketing mix. But hey, you may have had something different work better for you in the past, so try it again.
What is important is that you measure how each element is doing so you can see which has performed the best (see April’s Newsletter). This will allow you to optimise your next campaign for even better results.
Well, that is enough from me.
As ever, we end with the plug that you all knew was coming. 10Yeti’s is a warm and furry PR & Marketing company. We specialise is delivering affordable campaigns to the small business masses.
If you would like to know more about how we have campaigns to suit ALL budgets then why not send Andy an email: andy@10yetis.co.uk
All articles reproduced with permission from This Is Your Business