The Community HubsBusiness Development

Programme

SMART

Marketing forCommunity

Hubs

2

This Toolkit is based on the work of Freer Spreckley and Sally Huntwww.locallivelihoods.com

Adapted for the Islington Community Hubs

(CHBD Programme)

by

CENTA Business Services

Voluntary Action Islington

&

Octopus Community Network

October 2012

Contents

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What is the CHBD programme? The CHBD Toolkit Space Marketing StrategyMarketing Goals Users, Competitors and Collaborators How to Use the CHBD Toolkit Marketing Management The Marketing Process

Step 1 What are your Financial Targets? Step 2 What Resources does your Hub have? Step 3 Which Users can your Hub attract? Step 4 What Skills do you have, and need, for marketing?

The Marketing MixStep 5 Place Step 6 ProvisionStep 8 Promotion Step 9 Marketing Plan

Useful Links Pick and Mix Ideas Glossary

Annex: Annex 1 Marketing Ledger Annex 2 Marketing Plan Annex 3 Research Matrix Annex 4 Example Community Centre Brochures Links

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Background: the CHBD programme The Community Hubs Business Development (CHBD) programme was designed for Islington’s Community Hubs (a network of the larger community centres.) It was conceived through discussions with member Hubs seeking practical solutions for generating additional revenue. Through these initial discussions, a consensus emerged that the physical space occupied by all Hubs would represent the best focus for a planned marketing drive. Its primary purpose was to enable all Hubs to develop Marketing Plans, to add to their existing Hub Business Plans.

The toolkit received positive feedback from hubs in Islington; we hope that it will be useful to other community centres and community buildings and we are delighted to make it available for free.

This programme of support was designed to be flexible. Each community building will be at its own stage of hiring space and generating income, and you can work through the exercises and guidance at your own pace.

For more about the CHBD Programme, please see Appendix 5. The CHBD Toolkit This guide was adapted and modernised for the Islington Hubs from a resource developed in 2007 by Freer Spreckley and Sally Hunt www.locallivelihoods.com. We hope that as you progress through the CHBD programme of support, this Toolkit with its discussion points, guides and exercises, will become a practical framework to assist you to:

• Review and generate new ideas primarily for your organisation’s second most important asset – Your Space (people being the first!)

• Identify strategic, effective and viable ways to enhance your

existing Marketing Strategy

• Generate a practical Marketing Plan, customised for the needs of your Hub, staff, volunteers, users, stakeholders and the unique challenges and opportunities that your Hub faces.

Space Marketing Strategy

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Marketing starts by looking at what you have - you have a Hub with Space that has the potential (or spare capacity) to be hired, but maybe few resources or options to make changes so you need to make the best out of your facilities and your financial circumstances. Once this has been assessed, the next stage is to identify the most appropriate users or markets in order to generate a proportion of your total revenue needs.

Sometimes a lot of thought can go into what the current users from the community, or the management committee, consider would be good things for the centre to contain or do. This programme aims to build on this by assisting Hubs to explore what potential users might want also. In less urban areas, there are some centres that for various reasons are not suitable for extending their use outside the immediate community, but this is not the case for the vast majority of Islington hubs, which have, at the least, a ward-wide reach, and generally a wider scope. Capitalising on your unique offer might also require certain skills, resources and investment. Setting realistic timescales will be important here along with effective planning, management and delegation. Ultimately, you will need to decide how best to navigate the changes required for generating additional revenue from increased trading.

Marketing Goals The ledgers and exercises within this Toolkit will assist your organisation to review and decide:

• Situation Analysis – where are we now?

• Objectives. What do we want to achieve?

• Strategy. How are we going to get there?

• Tactics. What are the details of the strategy?

• Actions. Who is going to do what, and by when?

• Controls. How are we going to measure success?

This approach will help you to create a ‘Road Map’ with a ‘SMART’ plan. (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time bound)

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Users, Competitors and Collaborators A major advantage in Islington as a central London borough is the number and diversity of potential users. This makes it highly likely that you’ll have a large range of existing and potential users to choose from. Of course, you will also have more competition. Identifying which partners (perhaps other hubs?) you can collaborate or partner with is just as important as assessing who you will be competing against.

To explore these options further, we will introduce Hubs to the concept of Business Model’s during key workshops and 1-2-1 sessions. According to Osterwalder and Pigneur, a business model describes the rationale of how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value. In 2009, the authors developed, along with 470 collaborators from 45 countries, the Business Model Canvas http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/canvas . This innovative tool has the flexibility to apply to any type of enterprising organisation, including community Hubs.

Hubs may wish to use The Business Model Canvas to identify the ideal mix of users and services. However, whether individually or collaboratively, each centre will be able to decide, amongst other things, what their own opportunities are and how they will promote and deliver them. How to Use the CHBD Toolkit This self-help Marketing Toolkit is designed to help the staff management committees and volunteers of centres develop a marketing plan. It is a practical self help guide which can be worked-on in stages; it will also be used to facilitate short training events and 1-2-1 sessions, as a part of the CHBD programme Below are a series of practical steps, which will assist your Hub to develop draft results to be recorded in the accompanying Marketing Ledger. The Marketing Ledger is a working document: the Marketing Plan is a document which can be given to your wider committee, your supporters and be attached to fundraising documents. The Toolkit is broken down into eight steps; each step has information and a practical exercise. The result of each step is recorded in the Marketing Ledger.

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Step 7 PRICE – HOW MUCH DO YOU CHARGE? What pricing structure do you have in relation to your current and planned users? How doyour prices compare with those in other comparable venues?

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do you want the space in your Hub to generate?Income How much ? TARGETSFINANCIALARE YOUR HATW

Step 1

Identify existing resources and those planned for. ? HAVEUBHDOES YOUR ESOURCES RHAT W

Step 2

Who uses the centre, and which users are you planning to attract.

? ATTRACTUBHCAN YOUR SERS UHICH W

Step 3

do you need.

committee and volunteers, and what skills What skills and capacity do you have in the staff, ?DO YOU HAVE FOR MARKETINGKILLS SHAT W

Step 4

take advantage of any features.What is special about your location and how can you

?WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF YOUR LOCATION– LACE P

Step 5

provide in the future. nd what are you planning to What provision and services do you currently have a

?WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO OFFER– ROVISION P

Step 6

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How are you going to promote your space?

?HOW ARE YOU GOING TO SELL YOUR SERVICES– ROMOTION P

Step 8

to a Marketing PlanTransfer the information from the Marketing Ledger LANPARKETING MYOUR REPARE P

Step 9

Marketing Management Our definition of Marketing encompasses the whole process for matching a centre to its best market opportunities.

Marketing is a management process that identifies, anticipates and supplies customer requirements - and makes sure it is done efficiently and profitably.

As a management process, the key activities involve:

• Instilling a marketing led ethos throughout the Hub • Researching external opportunities • Understanding current and potential users • Managing the User/Stakeholder journey (constituency relationship

management) • Developing the marketing strategy and plan • Management of the marketing mix • Managing collaborations • Measuring success • Managing budgets • Ensuring timely delivery • Writing copy • Approving images and other types of content • Developing guidelines • Making User focused decisions

Adding Value In marketing terms what you have to sell is the venue and the additional services you can and are willing to provide, such as catering, office space, meetings, training equipment hire, etc. Additional features such as customer care, accessibility, community sustainability, etc., will make your venue stand out to certain users.

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Quite often, we choose things because of the ‘Added Value’ rather than price. This is what we call your Unique Solution Proposition (USP) and is often the key to satisfying your user’s needs.

‘A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work - he is the purpose of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to serve him’.

Mahatma Gandhi

The Toolkit will help you to make an inventory of all the resources, services and Added Value features that you have, and to understand your range of current users and their needs. You may think you know who they are but it is still worth mapping and listing them, understanding their level of satisfaction with your Hub and what they might wish to see improved.

Existing users It’s important not to neglect your existing users when seeking new users. Establish how you can improve current users’ satisfaction levels, to retain your existing users, though you may have to explore whether it is possible to continue your offer to some categories of user – e.g. where the income does not cover the cost of provision. You may decide that there are compelling reasons to continue to serve these users, e.g. they are marginalised and experiencing deprivation and lack the resources to pay more. However, these decisions need to be taken explicitly, at a policy level, and you need to know that you have the capacity to cross-subsidise between user groups.

The Marketing Process In marketing terms your Hub is a venue where individuals, groups, public and private organisations (your Stakeholders) will pay to use the resources, and services, and to undertake activities. The potential user base is therefore enormous, in fact it is so large you can’t possible attract all of them; so you need to decide who you want to attract, who you can attract, and how.

As a venue you are selling your resources and services; resources are what you physically have, the building and its facilities, and services are what you can provide with them. You need to be very clear what

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kind of resources and what services you have to sell, and you need to be clear about who can be attracted to use them, and make sure the two match up.

Once you have got the match right between what you have to offer and the potential users, you need to work out how to promote the centre and attract those users, so that they will enjoy using it and want to return to your venue again. Marketing touches everything and the key is to make sure that the service you provide to your users is clear and consistent.

Marketing your Hub is as much about securing repeat bookings from existing users as it is about promoting services to new users. Pay equal attention to the quality of services provided: customer satisfaction is the best way of getting repeat bookings. Satisfied customers will be those who have received a quality service from booking the venue to the final invoicing and aftercare support. Also, satisfied customers will often market the centre for you, by recommending your centre to other potential users through ‘Word of Mouth’ marketing.

Understand your Current Position and Opportunities Assess your current position with hiring / renting space – how much income/revenue have you made in the past year? Did you have a target, and did you meet that target, or under/over achieve? Does the Hub have a budget deficit this year – by how much? How much additional Space could you hire to reduce the deficit? This will give you a base-line, against which you can measure your progress.

Get information on the market Once you have a set of goals, explore the opportunities that could help you achieve them over the short and long-term. Investigate new users, who are they, what do they need/want, how will they find you, how will they make the booking and what will entice them to return when they next want to hire a venue? This will also apply to renting space over longer periods, e.g. office space.

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The 4P’s (Persuade users to access your services) Successful selling is based on getting the four Ps (Place, Provision, Price and Promotion). For example, if you want to sell the venue for business courses the Place has to be convenient, with access to tube/bus or parking spaces; the Provision has to be a warm, comfortable, and well equipped training room, the Price can be higher than for local users but must be competitive in the eyes of your target users, and the Promotion should be designed to appeal to the right customer segments, using the right channels e.g. leaflets to local businesses or through a Linkedin network group. The right type of communication should ‘pull’ potential users in, perhaps through effective social media channels, rather than ‘push’ a marketing message out to the masses. We will explore using Social Media channels further in Step 7 PROMOTION ). The concept of the four P’s was developed in the 1960’s and has been adapted into the 'seven Ps' which refers to the four Ps, plus 'physical evidence', 'people', and 'process', which you may wish to add. 'Physical evidence' refers to elements within the space -- the equipment, the uniforms employees wear, signboards, etc. 'People' refers to the employees of the organisation with whom customers come into contact with. 'Process' refers to the processes and systems within the organisation that affects its marketing process. Getting the Ps right in relation to the user is the key to good marketing.

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Deciding where to start with marketing can be a bit like the analogy of the ‘chicken or the egg’. Do you find target users first or should you start by setting an income/surplus target? The latter may well determine the type of target user your Hub should aim for in order to generate the revenues required. The key financial numbers to start with are:

• Income. What percentage of the overall income should the space generate in the financial year?

• Costs. How much will it cost to promote and rent/hire the space– including the true cost of the space and staff?

• Surplus (net income). Will a surplus be generated as a result of Income generated minus the costs? If so, how much?

Exercise One - Double click on the table below to complete the Calculator (increase page size to read if required)

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do you want the space in your Hub to generate?Income How much

? TARGETSFINANCIALARE YOUR HATW Step 1

Annual Cost Recovery Calculator for Islington Community Building

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Who you can promote your centre to as a venue, and how it can be used is partly dependent on the resources you have to offer. Having a clear understanding of what you can offer will help you when it comes to mapping and identifying potential new users.

Exercise Two - Fill in the Resources Checklist in the Marketing Ledger.

Use the checklist to identify the resources you have, and those that you would like to acquire, either now or at some point in the future, and those that are not relevant to you, and try to summarise your key resources in the Marketing Ledger.

Under the ‘comments’ column make a note about the quality of resources on offer. You can grade those Poor, Satisfactory, Good, and Excellent. Also comment on suitability for purpose – you may have lots of chairs but can you sit on them for 2 hours or 4 hours? Are they good enough to sit on all day for a training course? If you decide they are not of good enough quality you are restricted as to who you can hire the venue to, or what you can hire it as, until you are in a position to acquire better seating.

For any resources you might like to obtain or develop you can identify those which won’t cost much and those you will need to raise additional finance for. You may find that with limited expenditure it is possible to improve or add to a range of resources which can have a bigger impact overall on your venue than one big expensive outlay.

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Identify existing resources and those planned for.

? HAVEUBHDOES YOUR ESOURCES RHAT WStep 2

Exercise Three - Fill in the Users Checklist in the Marketing Ledger. Fill in the existing and potential users in the checklist and try to summarise your existing and potential users in the Marketing Ledger. (The list is only a guide so fill in more users or different users as appropriate). Then refer back to the Resources Checklist and try to match up resources with existing and potential users. We have included a research matrix as an annex to the Marketing Ledger which shows the type of resources required by a range of user groups, you can use this to help you. At this point you will have started to build up a picture of the existing users and the existing resources, and the future potential users once new resources are put in place.

Market Segmentation Segmenting your users into groups has a number of advantages; it can help you to:

• identify your most and least profitable users • focus your marketing on the users who will be most likely to hire

your services • avoid the markets which will not be profitable for you • build loyal relationships with users by developing and offering

them the services they want • get ahead of the competition in specific parts of the market • use your resources wisely • identify new services • improve services to meet user needs • increase profit potential by keeping costs down, and in some

areas enabling you to charge a higher price for your services

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Who uses the centre, and which users are you planning to attract.

? ATTRACTUBHCAN YOUR SERS UHICH W

Step 3

Talk to your users and potential users Your users are a valuable source of information: sometimes you need to develop a relationship or stronger links with your users in order to create a useful dialogue and build your market information. Giving information to, and getting information from, your users and potential users can be undertaken in a variety of ways. Questionnaires and surveys can be excellent ways to start the process but they are seldom enough on their own: they are best as part of a process which will lead through to some action. Many people are reluctant to be interviewed unless it is convenient and they can see benefit for themselves. Incentives are quite good if you can afford them such as a prize draw for those who return them. However, if your users are online, with new survey platforms such as www.surveymonkey.com, the process of survey design, distribution and analysis has become efficient, more effective and more fun!

Questionnaire Styles:

• Closed questions Yes/ No questions • Multiple choice • Open ended • Statements inviting responses or comments • Scaled responses, e.g. 1-5 or excellent to poor • Variance questionnaires, e.g.; how it is now, and how you think it

should be, on a scale of 1 to 10. However, sometimes you need to create a dialogue to find out more:

• Rapid Appraisal (go to where people are and ask them questions) • Face to Face Interviews • Telephone Interviews

Or seek feedback via:

• Formal Meetings • Short Presentations • Posters/ Bill Boards • Newsletters with a reply slip (link to surveymonkey.com if online) • Newspaper articles • External Newsletter

Or create a participative dialogue between you:

• Outreach work • Workshops and consultative events e.g. focus groups, welcome days,

etc. • Public Voting (likes if online)

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Or create a dialogue through holding Social Events: • Arts projects • Music/entertainment sessions • Sports • World Food evening events

Or create a dialogue via your website and social networking platforms:

• Generate online content and invite feedback • Develop a regular Blog • Set up Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter accounts

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Marketing is an on-going process and will need to be managed over a longer time span than just a month or two so it is best to set up a small sub-committee to be the ‘marketing team’. As well as staff and members of the management committee you may wish to include individuals within the community, who are not keen to be fully involved in the Hub centre management, but do have professional skills and are willing to serve only on the marketing team. These people will be worth seeking out and courting to secure their involvement. Being part of Hub network offers a fantastic opportunity for sharing of skills, knowledge and joint marketing activities.

Look for these types of skills:

• Management experience

• Customer care

• Graphic Design

• Promotion/ PR • Online Social Media editing/Copy

writing • Networking • Co-ordinating resources, people

and venues • Fundraising • Booking and customer care

You may not call upon all these skills that often so it is worth identifying as many people with the above skills as are available and apportion specific tasks if and when they arise. And those who want to get more involved can obviously do so. It may be advisable to train staff or volunteers in some of these skills, but be sure that this is a cost effective way of providing these skills. It may be more appropriate to try to use expert volunteers, or to try to find the resources to buy-in specialised services when needed.

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What skills do you need, and how will you acquire them? What skills and capacity do you have in the staff, management committee and volunteers?

?DO YOU HAVE FOR MARKETINGKILLS SHAT W

Step 4

In the Marketing Ledger - record the skills you have and the skills you need.

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PEST Analysis – Exercise Four

PEST is an acronym for Political, Economic, Social and Technological factors in a given market. Although analysis is usually used by large businesses to examine their markets, we think it’s an important starting point for any organisation. You don’t need to analyse all of the issues below but it will help your hub to be more Market focused. It should help you to flag up the challenges and opportunities within the Space hire market place and help you judge potential opportunities more accurately. For example, the PEST analysis is a useful tool for understanding market growth or decline, and as such the position, potential and direction for Hub’s space marketing strategy.

Political: ecological / environmental

issues current legislation home market future legislation European/international

legislation regulatory bodies and processes government policies government term and

change trading policies funding, grants and initiatives home market lobbying/pressure

groups international pressure groups civil disturbances, wars and

conflict

Economic: home economy situation home economy trends overseas economies and trends general taxation issues taxation specific to

product/services seasonality /weather issues market and trade cycles specific industry factors market routes and distribution

trends customer / end-user drivers interest and exchange rates international trade / monetary

issues

Social: lifestyle trends demographics consumer attitudes and opinions media views law changes affecting social

factors brand, company, technology

image

Technological: competing technology

development research funding associated/dependent

technologies replacement

technology/solutions maturity of technology manufacturing maturity and

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consumer buying patterns fashion and role models major events and influences buying access and trends ethnic/religious factors advertising and publicity ethical issues

capacity information and

communications consumer buying mechanisms/technology technology legislation innovation potential technology access, licensing,

patents intellectual property issues global communications

SWOT Analysis – Exercise Five A SWOT Analysis is a quick and smart exercise which you can use to determine the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats facing your centre. It will help you profile your centre and it enables the ‘marketing team’ to gain insights into strategic opportunities and the potential for strengthening and capacity building. The Strengths and Weaknesses are internal influences and Opportunities and Threats are external influences. These can be prioritised in order of importance.

A SWOT should be undertaken as a brainstorming exercise. It uses a statement or question as a start - in this case the statement might be: Marketing the Centre

• Draw a SWOT diagram on big piece of paper or flip chart, and

write down what people think of the centre in terms of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Issuing each individual with a pack of post-it notes, and asking them to write a strength, weaknesses, etc. on a note and then stick it on one of 4 large sheets of paper, one for each category in the SWOT often works well.

• You can prioritise and decide upon the most important areas and

discard the rest. • Discuss the four lists and identify potential strategic moves to

enhance the internal strengths and external opportunities and

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diminish the internal weaknesses and external threats. Use the positive to reduce the negative.

SWOT Profile SWOT Strategy

Example: SWOT Profile

STRENGTHS

Committee members Experience of some volunteers Sustainable community action Good quality furniture Members are friendly Able to teamwork

WEAKNESSES

Some skills not available Unclear tasks and roles No money for website/ brochures No parking spaces

OPPORTUNITIES

Local residents’ skills and potential

Islington Hub Network Local Authority Support

Volunteers can get involved

THREATS Insecurity of revenue funding Changes in the VCS sector – closures,

mergers, etc. affecting customer base Not enough volunteers Increasing competition from new

meeting spaces

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Opportunities EXTERNAL Threats

Weaknesses INTERNAL Strengths

NEGATIVEPOSITIVE

Threats in order to avoid

Opportunities to exploit

Weaknesses to overcome StrengthsUse

NEGATIVE POSITIVE

Grants for equipment/services Talk of closing some community centres

In the Marketing Ledger - record the results of the SWOT.

The difference and relationship between PEST and SWOT

PEST is useful before SWOT - not generally vice-versa - PEST definitely helps to identify SWOT factors. There is overlap between PEST and SWOT, in that similar factors would appear in each. That said, PEST and SWOT are certainly two different perspectives: PEST assesses a market, including competitors (or ‘collaborators’), from the standpoint of a particular proposition or an organisation. SWOT is an assessment of an organisation or a proposition, whether your own or a competitors. Strategic planning is not a precise science - no tool is mandatory - it's a matter of pragmatic choice as to what helps best to identify and explain the issues. PEST becomes more useful and relevant the larger and more complex the business or proposition, but even for a very small local businesses a PEST analysis can still throw up one or two very significant issues that might otherwise be missed. The four quadrants in PEST vary in significance depending on the type of business, e.g. social factors are more obviously relevant to consumer businesses or a B2B business close to the consumer-end of the supply chain, whereas political factors are more obviously relevant to a global munitions supplier or aerosol propellant manufacturer. All organisations benefit from a SWOT analysis, and will also benefit from completing a SWOT analysis of their main competitors, which interestingly can then provide some feed back into the economic aspects of the PEST analysis.

Develop the Marketing Mix At this point you should have lots of notes in the marketing ledger and have got a picture of where you are and what your potential is: you should have identified your current and planned resources; your current and potential users; the skills available to manage the marketing and those still needed to be found; and profiled your strengths and weakness.

You are now ready to develop the marketing mix. This uses the four Ps: Place; Provision; Price; and, Promotion to sell your facilities to

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customers. It is generally agreed that if you can get the four Ps to be consistent with one another and clearly focused on attracting and servicing your customers you will have got a good marketing system in place. Developing the marketing mix is as much about exploring options as it is about planning; see what mix of the four Ps works. It is an iterative process, and can go round and round until you have got what you think is a solid and consistent set of facilities.

Place: This is about your building and its location. Is it accessible or and near to public transport, you might even have free car parking! Is there full disabled access, a kitchen and good quality toilets? Place can be enhanced if the building is attractive, you have good surroundings and local features such as outdoor space or great independent restaurants, etc. If your Hub is located within a social housing estate, you are likely to have to work harder and be more creative in promoting your centre to people beyond the estate.

Provision: This is about making sure you have the right venue, features, resources, and special service that the customer is expecting.

Example: if your customer is running a training course; they will need a quiet, large, warm, and airy room, with tables and comfortable chairs, a large blank wall on which to stick paper and project PowerPoint and a broadband connection. They will also need good quality coffee and tea and lunch. If all these things are available there is more chance they will return next time they run a course.

Price: This can be varied for different users. Obviously in a community centre the local user is the focus and the price charged to them should be affordable, but for other users the price can be increased without jeopardising their custom. However, price and quality have to match. Before developing a pricing policy it is essential that you first work out what the real running costs of the centre are, and costs of any future plans.

Example: training providers will usually have a budget for venue hire that can be geared towards hotel or specialist meeting venue costs,

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and they will expect a good quality of service. So it is essential to investigate the venue hire and lunch costs in nearby facilities to compare prices. Promotion: This is getting existing and potential customers to know about your centre and facilities – particularly any new services offered. Promotion is the way you present the centre; cleanliness, reception, the impression people have when they use it, and things like aftercare support. Remember the internet has changed the way people promote their facilities and the way people search for facilities, so you need an attractive, user-friendly website, and you need to give them an opportunity to comment on your social network feeds – good and bad!

Example: training providers may look for a venue via the Local Authority, through word of mouth, by recommendations from colleagues, search engine, reading a twitter feed or a blog, etc.

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What are the advantages of your location? Think carefully about how you describe your place, it most probably has some excellent strengths. These can differ according to whether you are located in the heart of Islington, or further out. Is it with your building, your immediate surroundings such as a sports field, parks, or your wider environment such as views over London skyline, canals, and historic monuments? Maybe your place is on a main road or near a busy tube station, or can only be reached via walking through a social housing estate. The trick is to use any situation as a strength, always remember that different users want different things.

Location Where is it, what is its special situation, are there neighbours – can you make a noise, is there a good view, are you close to complimentary services e.g. restaurants or sporting venues?

The building What is special about your building, it could be size, design, situation, facilities, location, sustainability etc.

Access Are you near good public transport, is there car parking, disabled access, suitable for a range of disabilities, is it near a main road.

Links with other resources How will you network with and work with the other Islington Hubs, other centres and venues, both in Islington and other boroughs nearby or beyond?

In the Marketing Ledger - write down all the good things about the Place, and think about the not so good things and how they can be improved. Keep a note of the improvement that can be made, some will be expensive and others might cost very little. Consider which users might use the Place and how they might make use of it. You can note these down on the Users Checklist.

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take advantage of any features.What is special about your location and how can you

?WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF YOUR LOCATION– LACE PStep 5

What does your Hub provide and how is it managed? Provision, sometimes called ‘product’, is what you offer. This includes the actual venue and facilities, additional or special services, the way the centre is managed and the after care provided. Think about your own experiences of being a customer, you will know that it is not just one thing that makes a service good; the combination of a number of service provisions that can make the whole experience very good.

Marketing is dependent on consistency; so what Provision you offer has to be consistent with the Place and re-enforce what the Place offers. Build strength between the two and the two become more attractive than one or the other alone. Consider the service components below; they are all part of your provision:

Contact and booking

• How will be people contact you – in person /online? • Is it easy to contact you, do you have a booking form? • How do they pay cheque/cash/online e.g. PayPal?

Size and quality of building

• Recognise the number of people who can use the centre in different circumstances:

• Meetings training, receptions, rehearsals, performances, sports, social events,

• Recognise the quality of the building Amenities

• Do you have a playing field, are you near a popular venue, do you have a swimming pool (or nearby), is there a local B&B, pub, restaurant

Facilities

• Chairs and tables, natural daylight, moveable walls, kitchen, broadband, training equipment, fitness/sport facilities

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provide in the future. nd what are you planning to What provision and services do you currently have a

?WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO OFFER– ROVISION P

Step 6

Services • Meet and greet, catering, facilitating meetings, organise walks,

sightseeing, accommodation After care support

• Lost property, pass on information, online feedback, follow up on a question.

Special Provision

• Can you provide something that is not available elsewhere locally, such as equipment for children’s parties, music equipment for teenagers, catering equipment, etc.?

In the Marketing Ledger - write down all the good things about the Provision, and think about the not so good things and how they can be improved. Keep a note of the improvements that can be made, some will be expensive and others might cost very little. In relation to the Provision consider who might use the services and how they might make use of it. Consider which users might make use of the Provision and how they might make use of it. You can note these down on the Users Checklist.

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Step 7PRICE – HOW MUCH DO YOU CHARGE?What pricing structure do you have in relation to your current and planned users? How do

Do your charges cover the costs? It is vital to set your charges at a level that cover your costs, but you need to do more than this. You need to generate a surplus (a profit) to build up your reserves and to invest in the venue. Consider the following points:

• Depending on how you prepare your budgets, you will first need

to decide what proportion of you total costs need to be recovered by space hire.

• What are the running costs, maintenance costs, repair costs,

insurance, and costs for additional services associated with space hire?

• How will you establish you Baseline, and

• How will you measure and record improvements in earned

income.

Financial requirements for Hubs are made up of three component parts:

1. The fixed assets - One-off purchases of equipment, computers,

chairs and tables, etc. They are things you will purchase outright and which depreciate over a fixed period of time.

2. The fixed costs – these are the running costs; costs that you

will incur regardless of how much you hire out the building and include items like, staff, heating, lighting, telephone, stationery, insurance, maintenance and repairs etc.

3. The variable costs – the costs which are linked directly to sales

or activities or unexpected catering, event, staff, etc.

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Fixed Assets Fixed Costs Variable Costs

equipment computers furniture, fixtures and fittingsbuildings land

electricity insurance wages & NIhire purchasesundry items maintenance postage audit fees stationery

cleaning

rawmaterials fuel/heating catering

advertising

Whether you cover your costs will depend not only on how much you charge – it will also depend on how successful you are in hiring out the space. If it stands vacant a lot of the time you will run into financial problems. You need to try to work out the ‘occupancy rate’ for the past year, for each room you rent/hire. Out of the time a room could have been hired, was it occupied for 50% of the time, or 20% or 90%? You need to know these figures, which along with the income, will give you a BASELINE- the point at which you start and against which you measure and record performance in future years. Think about how you will measure and record changes and improvement in your renting/hiring performance, and put a system in place at the outset. Is the level of charges competitive? Who are your competitors, how does the price compare with other centres and relevant venues, how do the facilities and amenities compare with local competitors, what is it that makes your Hub competitive? Find out what local venues including offices, pubs hotels, and other meeting rooms charge.

Are there pricing options? Can you offer a range of services, can you charge different groups different prices, and can you work with other centres within the Islington Hub network to reduce costs? Your target customers may prefer to book by the hour, half day or full day. Divide your bookings

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into morning, afternoon and evening sessions and consider a price per session for each category of user. Of course, an ideal user may require a longer term let, maybe a ‘Block Booking’ or a much longer stay over 12 months. This might be for office use with and offered with flexible break clause or an easy in/easy out desk space or ‘Business Hub’ arrangement.

In the marketing ledger Write down all the expenditure you have for one year, make sure you don’t underestimate how much and at the end put in a good contingency amount for unknown expenditure. Make sure the increases in utility bills (fuel and electricity) have been taken into account. Then look at your income – can you cover your costs and make a profit? Are you pricing effectively and are you competitive? You can complete the calculations for expenditure and income by using the accompanying excel template.

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The Social Media Era Traditionally, promotion has always been about a ‘one way’ communication to your prospective users: what you have to offer; how they can access it; and how much it costs. But increasingly this approach is yielding less fruit. A fundamental shift has taken place in the way people prefer to buy. Today, people trust the advice of strangers. Who wouldn’t go to comparison site before buying these days, who wouldn’t look for reviews and community opinion whilst researching a product or service? This culture shift is massive. And Social Media plays a huge part in changing the way today’s buyer buys, whether it’s a car or hiring a community space. In most cases, existing users of your centre would have found out about you through word of mouth, which is probably the most powerful form of promotion. However, attracting new users outside of this network usually requires more investment in effort, creativity and resources. Rule No.1 in selling is that it’s better and (cheaper) to sell more to existing customers than to new customers. So your first aim should be to focus on your existing user network, (or at least to the profitable parts of your existing network of users.) Social Networking offers the opportunity to nurture existing communities in an efficient two way dialogue. It’s this dialogue that holds the key to strengthening the relationship, and your offer, in line with the community’s needs. For targeting new clients, the obvious point is that no one will buy from you if they don’t know you’re out there! If your existing users have good experiences, then they are likely to share this with their wider network. Make it as easy as possible for them to do this for you.

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How are you going to promote your centre’s space?

?HOW ARE YOU GOING TO SELL YOUR SERVICES– ROMOTION P

Step 8

What works and what doesn’t work with Social Media?

Effective Practices Ineffective Practices Rich, engaging content, video, games etc. Basic posts

Current, real-time and user generated content

Infrequent, dated content. User content not encouraged or suppressed

Listening, responding and interactive One-way broadcasts

Supporting, informing and acknowledging contributions

Asking outright for donations. No recognition to contributors

word of Mouth/viral marketing using compelling multimedia

Overt banner/traditional advertising

Proactive community building by entertaining, informing, adding value

No effort made to know and knit networks

Social Media ‘Tone of Voice’ Formal, corporate defensive responses.

Self-regulating communities Open and transparent

Strict moderation Closing down sites

Social media integrated into marketing mix Social media isolated from other campaigns and strategy

Identifying and engaging with opinion leaders/ cause champions.

No community demographics/segmentation

Social network monitoring and analytics used for better engagement

Basic monitoring using basic tools

Inbound Marketing So the buyer has changed. What does that mean for marketing and promotion? It means that outbound techniques are less effective than they were. For example, why would you read let alone respond to every piece of junk mail you found on your doorstep, when you can review products and services on-line – at a time that suits you? The answer is of course that you wouldn’t. You block many messages coming your way – phone calls, emails, ad banners, TV commercials. You have the luxury of choosing when you learn about them. You no longer have to take the opinion of the seller as valid. You can read the opinion and experiences of past customers and make your own mind up. To reflect these social changes, your centre needs an alternative to relying on outbound marketing techniques - techniques which may have had some success in the past. Ultimately, the consequence will be an increase in difficulty and cost of reaching new target users.

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Do you promote your centre to the best advantage?

So what does an effective promotional campaign look like for a community centre? Firstly, you need to accept that searching for your next new customer from mailing lists or cold calling is like searching for a needle in a haystack.

You could consider doing more of the following:

• Attend relevant networking events • Presentations to stakeholders and potential new users on the

work of the centre and recent achievements • Secure a sponsor to open up new networks of influence

In any interaction with potential users or influencers, emphasise the quality, use examples such as “the furnishings are suitable for all day training courses” or “there are 30 plastic stacking chairs available” if the quality is not so good. You don’t want to miss- sell b u t nor do you want to sound negative about your provision. People will appreciate knowing exactly what to expect.

USP ‘Unique Solution Point’A fundamental offer community buildings can make is that organisations

who pay for, and use your facilities are in fact contributing to a stronger and

more sustainable local community.

Online Presence Aim to extend your web presence so that people can find you. Make it as easy as possible for people to self-select your provision at the point when they are ready to make a buying decision. This will probably mean understanding the social media and forum preferences of your target users. Where does your ideal user go for information, what search terms and key words are used for research into the provisions that your centre can offer, are they on Facebook, Linkedin or Twitter? Does your website include photographs of your venue, and make clear how many people your rooms will accommodate in different arrangements – theatre, board room, etc. Does it specify your charges and make it easy to book a room and other amenities (e.g. projector, flip charts, etc.)

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As well as putting information about your premises on your own website, consider posting the information on the My Community space website: www.mycommunityspace.org.uk This website was designed especially for the community and voluntary sector and seeks to be the key online guide for organisations looking to rent out or hire space. The service is free to both users and advertisers. You can register for free and start uploading the details of the various buildings/rooms you would like to hire or hire out.

Social media definition Social media is any form of online publication or presence that allows end users to engage in multidirectional conversations in or around

the content.

Advertising is the most expensive form of promotion and if well focused can be effective; often however, it can fail to reach the right people and offer the right services, at the right time. Community centres should think carefully before paying for advertisements.

Look at the list below and start to create a profile of your users and how you could communicate to them.

Who is your market?

• VCS and third sector organisations , local people, local authority, education, companies, tourists, groups

Where are your markets?

• Local, Central/North London, Regional, UK, International

When is your market? • Weekends, daily, evening, seasonal

How do you/will you promote to them? • Website, advertise, word of mouth, notice board, after sales,

quality of service, online/offline networks, marketing officer, brochure

How do they/will they contact you/ find you?

• Website, email, telephone, letter, network, directly, agencies, tourist information, post code, search engine, affiliate link?

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Do you advertise?

• Cost, design, special features, how effective, do you have a website? Your own, as a page or on another website?

In the Marketing Ledger – prepare a list of how you presently promote your services to the different categories of user in the Users Checklist. Then, discuss and write down new ways of promoting your centre. At this point don’t worry too much about the cost; you can decide later if something is too expensive, it is still useful to be clear on the options.

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Promotion and Publicity Suggestions for Consideration Segment your market If you decide that your centre will concentrate on different types of events, or target particular customer markets, you can develop several promotional ‘packages’ for potential customers, such as the Local Authority, training providers, voluntary sector organisations etc. This could form a key part of your online marketing. In it, show the facilities on offer and the services that can be provided, or organised by the customer. The promotional packs can be developed to include a layout plan if there are several rooms and promotional photographs of the rooms laid out. For online promotions, consider videos on YouTube.

If the venue is suitable for birthday parties/ wedding receptions/training events etc., include a contact list of relevant local suppliers and businesses, such as caterers, entertainers, musicians, party planners, mobile disco, cake makers, drinks suppliers, china hire, chair and table hire, hotels and Bring &Buys etc., to make putting on such events much easier. You might want also want to explore commission arrangements with suppliers!

Word of mouth If you are on a centre committee take the opportunity to mention the centre and its facilities/ activities and promote what is going on; you can do this both formally and informally. Provide a good service to users and the word of mouth publicity you receive can be invaluable.

Talk to local groups, businesses, about the centre and ask your customers about how they found using the centre. This will give you useful information and also create a feel good factor.

Have an open day/ evening with drinks and nibbles and invite users and potential users to view the facilities. Consider rewarding existing users who recommend your venue, where a booking results.

Special events A particular annual event is a good way of getting your centre known, for example an art exhibition, because it stands out. Quality is essential – it needs to be well organised and presented

then visitors will remember the event and remember your centre by association. The capacity within the staff and the committee, or the funds to pay for someone, to do the organisation is essential. It is also a focus around which you can hang a publicity campaign and involve the wider community.

Radio and television If you can organise an appearance on these networks in editorial feature for free then it’s definitely worth considering. Obviously publicity of this type can reach a very wide audience and will be easier to achieve if you have, or can make, a contact within the media. To get a publicity feature on television you will need something to ‘hook’ them with - this could be a special event, a celebrity opening, a successful fundraising campaign etc., but you have to bear in mind that even if booked to come the cameras won’t turn up if there is something more exciting happening elsewhere

Off-Line Promotion ideas A Notice Board and Signage Try to have a notice board outside the centre with, at least, the up to date contact and booking information, facilities on offer and prices, and forthcoming events. There are some lovely notice boards inside centres, unfortunately you can often only see them when the building is open, which is no use to someone passing who perhaps wants to find out how to make a booking, or when an event is on. Sometimes even members of the local community can’t access this information. If your centre is difficult to find make sure it is signed from the nearest main road, and that the entrance is clearly signed.

Posters A computer designed format can make poster production cheap and efficient – look for free icons, pictures and logos. Look for an image that can be identified as representing your centre – good if your poster has to compete with others.

Compile a list of locations for putting up posters or businesses that are happy to accept one – it makes it easier to delegate the job to a willing volunteer if they know where they can go and who they can ask. Posters need to be managed and replaced when tatty and removed as soon as they are out of date.

Leaflets and Flyers Something that people can pick up and take home. Don’t just have them on table in the centre (no use if it’s shut) but in the pub, local shop and libraries and other facilities further afield, such as doctors’ surgeries, play groups and dentists. If there are

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specific event flyers, as opposed to venue information, make sure that someone is responsible for collecting and removing them when they are out of date.

Newspapers Many local newspapers have a free what’s on or listings section.

Find out if there is a community correspondent for your area and build a relationship with them so you can keep them informed; they need stories to report.

Send out press releases, or event reports with a photo (check the format required first), of anything you which to promote. Sometimes local newspapers have some space to fill and if there is some print ready copy available you have a good chance of getting it in.

Advertising – this can be expensive and eat into any profits to be made from putting on an event so needs careful consideration. However, placing an occasional advertisement can help to build a working relationship with your local newspaper and make them much more inclined to print the copy you send in or perhaps send a photographer out to an event.

Newsletters If your community doesn’t have a newsletter, then consider starting one – it may be worth establishing one for the Islington Hub Network to make it more feasible. It is a good way of involving local people, schools, churches, businesses, young people, clubs etc.

Create a file of leaflets and newsletters you can advertise in for free. These might include local free newsletters, ward magazines, local school magazines, Local Authority bulletin boards and websites. Libraries may also have listings information you can contribute to.

On-Line Promotion ideas There are a number of free listings websites nationally which you could contribute to (see Useful Links). Your borough or ward may also have, or be developing, a website so make sure you are included. Social Media Social media can be divided into at least four broad categories:

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• Social publishing (blogs, YouTube, Flickr, SlideShare,

Twitter, Google Docs) • Social collaboration (wikis, instant messaging, crowd

sourcing) • Social networking (Facebook, LinkedIn) • Social feedback (TripAdvisor, Yelp)

All these categories involve user-generated content and all hold great potential for meetings and events.

Some activities to consider

1. If not yet in place, ensure you have an attractive, user-friendly website with a CMS (content management system, e.g. www.ning.com or wordpress http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/get-interactive/) that means that most staff can be authorised to post new content, remove old information, etc. Integrate the website with relevant social networking channel conversations.

2. Publish great content. You should also take photographs of the

centre, of the interior of the building and any surrounding features such as Flickr/SlideShare

3. Create user-centric content and tools. Such as an article on

hiring community space or an online calculator to make it easier for users to choose the space they require

4. Blog your opinions. Choose some key themes that relate to

your centres activities, locality and motivations of target users for content e.g. sustainable communities/health and recreation etc.

5. Listen to others. Provide a platform for comment and debate 6. Optimise your site. To increase traffic based on key search

terms of target users. e.g. ‘community space hire in Islington’ Joint Working

Below are examples of where centres and other facilities can come together for joint working and marketing. Because the Islington Hub Network has been formed, most of the hard work has already been done.

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Your centre may already be engaging with the network and other organisations on some of these opportunities:

Shared resources and services Centres can share or pool resources to cut individual costs and increase the range of services offered. This could be joint buying, as is already the case with some Hub members - consider shared cleaning contracts. Other ideas to consider are children’s play equipment, a good quality catering service, training equipment, display boards, cinema facilities, a moveable dance floor, etc.

Joint MarketingThere may also be scope to reduce the costs of promotion individual centres, through a joint marketing campaign. This approach could be seen as competition, but from the user’s point of view, it makes it much easier to select and compare spaces if they appear in a single place. – So they’ll be more likely to hire.

Project focused Hubs can come together to prepare project proposals for providing local services, such as art and drama classes, renewable energy exhibitions, clubs, scenic drawing groups, special interest groups, dry stone wall tuition etc.

Link with business Can you provide an extra or breakout venue for a nearby hotel or pub, or sports facility? If there is an understanding of the quality of service provision long term mutually supportive relationships can be built. For example, a local pub or restaurant could offer a pre–event meal for a fixed price. Approach catering companies so they will list you as a venue they provide services to.

Tourism There may be tourism opportunities for your centre, register with your local Tourist Office; identify facilities and events aimed at tourists in your area and start looking at ways you might be able to provide a commercial service.

User focused There are some potential users, such as universities, painting groups, music groups, etc. who want special features like quality furnishings, very good views, away from residential areas to make a noise, etc., who perhaps want the same type of venue. If groups of centres who have these qualities come together they may well find a good market by offering similar features but in different locations.

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Developing a marketing plan is vital for developing a more entrepreneurial approach to venue hire and service provision for your centre. Without one, your efforts to attract users and supporters are likely to be haphazard and inefficient.

The Marketing Plan is a management document to help the staff and committee focus on an agreed approach. The Marketing Plan can be used to provide information to other stakeholders, support funding bids and tenders and as a monitoring tool to against which to measure performance.

Central to any successful marketing plan is an understanding of your users and their needs. The ability to constantly satisfy your users' needs better than your competitors will make you the preferred venue in the area. The marketing plan will use the information you have gathered during the previous exercises in this Toolkit and the Business Model Canvas, and recorded in the Marketing Ledger, all you have to do now is to review what you came up with, make sure it all fits together, make adjustments if required and write the marketing plan.

As you transfer information from the Ledger to the Plan check that it supports the market orientation, the potential uses and that within the four Ps it is consistent. It is best to write it electronically so that you can keep copies and when you need to review or change it this can be done with ease. At this point, armed with your completed ledgers, you should be able to begin writing up the marketing plan. Develop the Plan Once you have described the four P’s you need to develop them into a single plan. However, by now you will have done much of this and you should have a good idea about what you have and how it will work together.

Decide which users to target based on:

the Place – accessibility, location and special features;

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to a Marketing PlanTransfer the information from the Marketing Ledger LANPARKETING MYOUR REPARE P

Step 9

• the Provision - facilities for hire, type and quality of building, furniture, and additional services offered;

• the Price based on Place and Provision, the quality of what you are offering and additionality of services;

• the Promotion - whether you can promote and attract users and will they be pleased with what you offer.

This process is quite straight forward; it is just about making sure that your potential users will be satisfied with the venue, equipment and services if and when they use them. Be prepared to either delete some of the potential users because your centre will be unable to meet their requirements, or be prepared to add new potential users because you have discovered that your centre has certain attributes that will attract them. This is your target market.

Exercise Six - Fill in the Marketing Plan

1. Name of Centre Make sure you put in the correct address with the post code, contact, telephone, and email.

2. Market Orientation Make a simple statement about the main focus for hiring out your venue and services; it could be as a sport facility, a performing arts venue, a training and conference centre, etc. Try to summarise this to provide yourselves and your users with a clear message. See this statement as part of promoting the centre.

3. Users Describe your current and proposed users, and if you find it helpful, put the future users in terms of this year, next year and so on to provide a plan over time.

4. Building, Rooms and Ground Hire Describe what you currently have to offer and what you propose to offer in the future. Again, if you intend to develop or refurbish rooms or outside space over time, plan these out by indicating this year, next year, etc. Make sure your plans for proposed users match any plans for the buildings.

5. Facilities, Equipment and Services

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Provide information on the type and quality of facilities, equipment and services you currently offer and any proposed in the future. Again, if there is a relationship between the users, the building and the equipment and services make sure the timings correspond.

6. Skills and Capacity of your Committee Identify and analyse the strengths and weaknesses of your committee and volunteers in terms of the current services and the plans you have for any future services. (Some of this will be in SWOT exercise in the Marketing Ledger). Think in terms not only about skills and experiences but also about time and availability. If you find you have certain weakness you may be able to recruit new volunteers or buy in paid staff, etc.

7. Pricing Structure By now you will be clear about the cost of running the centre, the income you need to earn, in the current year and for 2-3 years in the future, and the amount you earned last year. If you have less income than you need or want, then you can either plan to increase the number of users, increase the cost per user or do a bit of both, depending upon the market you are in.

Develop a pricing schedule; lay the costs out clearly for different users and describe any discounts you may provide, such as multiple use or use for the local community. It is advisable to make this price look formal so that users are quite clear about the price and how the charge is allocated. You may charge extra for some items like training equipment or children’s play equipment, you may charge more for catering or the use of the kitchen for self-catering.

However you design the charges make sure it is consistent and clear.

Go back to the Users Checklist and categorise them into payment category groups; for example:

Group 1. People and groups from your local community who will often pay a basic rate; however, this should cover the cost of running the venue. You may want to charge different rates for providing (say) meeting space for a new small group than for a local individual to hold a party.

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Group 2. The corporate user, such as local government, private business, and voluntary sector projects. You may consider raising the rate for these organisations, but remember that their alternative is to use a local/city based meeting centre so you will be competing with them and you should find out what rates they charge and as long as you know your margins, consider reducing your rate.

You should undertake this exercise in looking at different rates for different users even if you do not anticipate that your venue will be used by all categories of user. It is valuable to know what you could charge a specific category of user, and it might help you in looking to the future when planning for the present.

8. Promoting your Centre Having identified your target market(s) think about how each user group needs to have your facilities promoted to them.

As a basic promotional action, all centres should have a Notice Board outside, they should prepare and print or photocopy a basic leaflet with information about the venue and services, location, price and contacts. You should distribute it widely. However, as previously discussed, it is now crucial to have an online presence so consider improving your web promotion platform. In addition to this, identify what specific promotional approaches you intend to make to your target market.

9. Action Planning Chart The Action Planning Chart can be used to list all the actions you have identified when writing this Marketing Plan and to set them out in the order they need to be actioned. Use coloured marker pens to fill in under the months when you start and finish a particular action. At the right hand side you write in the name of the person(s) who will be responsible for carrying out the action

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Links Support to the Voluntary Sector

NCVO provides a wealth of knowledge relating to first hand local income generation initiatives: support to the third sector including community centres and village halls; financial planning and funding service, general information, guidance and support, trustee and governance support, training framework, partnerships and joint working services, community regeneration. www.ncvo-vol.org.uk

Funding

www.awardsforall.org.uk

Information about community centres and marketing

Action with Communities in Rural England - www.acre.org.uk

Rural Community Council Leicestershire and Rutland - www.ruralcc.org.uk

DEFRA Rural Community Buildings Network www.defra.gov.uk/rural/communities/centres/rcbn.htm

A good example of a community centre website www.hurstvillagecentres.org.uk

Example of a catering service to a group of three community centres www.conferencematters.co.uk

Community Matters www.communitymatters.org.uk/local_information

Check out the competition

www.conferences-uk.org.uk

Promote your Hub on these listings websites

www.hallshire.com

www.latemeetings.com

www.thelocalchannel.co.uk

www.wherecanwego.com

Make links with Tourism

www.touristinformationcentres.com English historic monuments and castles www.english-heritage.org.uk

Cycle routes www.sustrans.org.uk

Advertise events, find artists and performers

Arts Council www.artscouncil.org.uk

www.voluntaryarts.org

General information and advice

Volunteering England www.volunteering.org.uk

For information on social economy and interactive online software www.locallivelihoods.com

Pick and Mix Ideas During our research we have come across many activities and ideas for events which could be put on in your centre. Most importantly, those centres with the most varied and exciting programmes have been proactive in finding people to start societies or interest groups, or a dance class etc., they haven’t just waited for someone to approach them. Below are just some of the ideas we found:

Active clubs/Societies Walking club. Running club Gymnastics Line dancing Belly dancing Aerobics Basket Ball For kids Easy Exercise to Music Access to Fitness Class for Men Chair Exercise Group Table Tennis Badminton Short bowls Karate/martial arts Yoga Jazz dancing Pilates Tai Chi

Clubs/Societies Photographic society Art Group Crafts Class Bridge club Genealogical society Drama University of the 3rd Age Bird watching Flower arranging Young Farmers Slimmer’s Support Group Gardening club Local history group Sewing Group/Stitch and Bitch

Children and Young people Parent / childCarer and Toddler Group Pre-school Playgroup Toy Library Junior Youth Group Senior Youth Club Brownies/scouts/guides After School Clubs Summer play schemes Children’s discos Ballet/ children’s dance Theatre outreach/ drama

Social benefit Age Concern Luncheon Club WI / Towns Women’s Guild Credit Union IT Cafe Coffee and chat Visit from mobile library Computer Courses Community first aid responders centre Tourist information

Events/other Farmers’ market/ basket sale Bingo Night with visit from mobile fish and Burger van Salsa/Zumba Art Exhibition Community shop Post office

Table games evening

Quiz night Tea dance

Murder mystery evening Burns night supper Halloween fancy dress Film night

Glossary Hub – Community Centre Road map – A practical description of what can be achieved and how to get there Marketing strategy- The approach taken to create value for users and profitable income streams Marketing plan – The tactics employed in realising the Marketing strategy Markets – The competitors, stakeholders, users and other external dynamics Marketing ledger- Format for consolidating ideas about tactics Business Model Canvas - Is a strategic management tool used to describe, design, challenge, invent, and pivot your business model. USP – Unique Solution Proposition SWOT – Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats PEST – Political, Economic, Social and Technological Marketing mix – The 4Ps The 4Ps – Provision, Place, Price and Promotion Market segment – categorisation of target users, based on a combination of evidence and stereotypes of the Unique Solutions propositions they are searching for Marketing channels- Potential ways to communicate to users about provision Online social media – fast growing multidirectional communication channel Push marketing –selling what you have to users Pull marketing –engaging users to find out what they want to buy Users – your visitors and customers - paying, subsidised or no charge Stakeholders – those who share your mission plus your visitors and customers - paying, subsidised or no charge Added value – the reason why a user would want more and share their experience others

Revenue – Also called income or turnover. The total amount of money received before any costs are deducted Surplus – the amount of money remaining after all costs are deducted Fixed assets – Buildings, machinery, vehicles owned that need to be maintained or replaced at some point in the future

Fixed costs – rent, rates, utilities, administration staff etc. Variable costs – catering for an event, travel costs for trip etc.

Annex 1

Marketing Ledger The Marketing Ledger is follows the same order as the Toolkit and is for you to keep a draft summary of what you have either decided to do under each heading or your ideas for further research. Once you have filled in as much as you can then you can transfer the information into a Marketing Plan (Annex 2) that you can use to manage the marketing process.

Step 1- Centre Resources

Do you

have this? When will

you acquire

this?

Not

Relevant Comments

An easily contactable booking

person or system

Locally available booking

information

Booking information on- line Office space to hire A pick up brochure or leaflet Information in parish

magazine/local listings

An accessible location for

cars/ public transport

Are you located in a tourist

area/ on a walking route

Attractive appearance Parking Outside space A Notice board outside Security systems Toilets Large centre space Meeting room/ break out

room

Disabled access/toilets Good heating Basic kitchen Well equipped kitchen Outside Catering Facilities nearby or opportunities to

establish

Equipment storage IT Facilities and Broadband Quality furnishings Chairs/Tables Large number of chairs/tables Training Equipment, e.g.

projector, wall panels

Range of Lighting/ side lights,

dimmers/ theatre lights

Good acoustics for speaking

and music

Staging Dance floor Public Entertainment licence Cycle washing facility Drying Facilities Camping space Overnight accommodation Self-catering facilities Could you offer afternoon teas Changing/ shower facilities Sports equipment Sports field Could you link with events

happening nearby?

Identify those key or special resources that you have and list them here, also identify those resources that you would like to acquire in the near future.

Existing Key Resources Planned Resources

Step 2 – Hub Users

Already

user Potential

user Comments

Community Use Social Events/ fetes Sports Playgroups/ children/ youth Interest clubs/societies Community private hire Celebration parties Meetings Office space Civic Events Polling station Public meetings Political meetings Social benefit Post office/ shops Community learning resource Advice service Voluntary Sector Information events Training / Meetings Office space Local Authority Meetings Conferences Training Business Meetings Conferences Sales venues Sub-let office space Annex to hotel Education College outreach University of the Third Age Holiday Play Schemes Training companies Seminar/training Longer courses Tourism Walkers

Cyclist Visitors to local attractions Projects/Programme Training Meetings Office space

Arts Sector Arts festivals Theatre Cinema Dance/Music Extra

Centre Users

Identify the users and potential users under the following headings in the list below:

Existing Users

Borough

Gtr. London

Region

UK

Potential Users

Borough

Gtr. London

Region

UK

Step 3 - Skills for Managing the Marketing Process List the skills on your staff members.

List the skills on your committee.

Skills needed

From the SWOT exercise and from looking at the skills available to the Hub prepare a skills list of the Strengths, Weaknesses

Strengths Weaknesses

Step 4 - Place In the box below describe the Place and any special features it has. Location:

Access:

The building:

Links with other resources:

Special features: Step 5 - Provision

Provide information on the key facilities you have in and around the building, and any services you can provide in addition.

Number and size of rooms: Other facilities: Equipment:

Step 6 – Price

Describe the cost of running the centre, and the charge rate for hire and other services, if you have different rates for different users please put them in.

Fixed Assets Fixed Costs Variable Costs

How much does it cost to run the centre annually?

Do you have different charge rates for different users?

Local residents and groups:

Other community groups:

Local Authorities:

Private sector:

Step 7 - Promotion Please describe below how you are promoting or will promote the services offered by your centre.

Networking If you are part of a network of centres or even if you have a loose arrangement with just one or two describe the purpose of the network and how it is organised.

Could you start a network with some other Hubs?

Annex 2 Marketing Plan The marketing plan is where the organisation’s committee set their ideas out in a clear way and plan their future actions. Please use the information from the Marketing Ledger you prepared as part of the Toolkit exercises as the basis for completing this plan. When planning think in terms of a number of years and try to specify start and finish times where appropriate.

Name of centre:

Address:

Contact details:

Website:

Market Orientation: Describe the main focus of the market you intend to develop over the next few years

Users:Describe your current users

Describe proposed future users

Building, rooms and grounds hireWhat do you currently offer?

What do you propose to offer in the future?

Facilities, equipment and servicesCurrent facilities, equipment and services

Future facilities, equipment and services

Skills and capacity of your committeeIdentify which skills and capacities will be needed to meet proposed future users / facilities, equipment and services

What strengths and weaknesses do you have?

What weaknesses do you have, and how are you going to improve your skills and capacity to support your plans?

Pricing StructureDescribe how you are going to charge for the venue hire and services you provide

Promoting your centreHow are you going to promote your centre to the users you have identified?

Action Planning Chart

Identify those actions that need to be done within the next year and list them in the left hand column in the order that you think they need to be done. Then use a coloured marker pen and draw lines from when you will start to do them and when you plan to finish under the corresponding months. In the right hand column you can write who is going to do the work.

Action to be done

M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9 M10 M11 M12 By whom?

Annex 3 Marketing Matrix

Target Markets Local community

Voluntary Sector

Public sector

Business

Education

Training companies

Other…

Sub-Market

Facilities

Booking Person x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Booking info local x x x x x x x x

Booking info on- line x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Pick up brochure x x x x x x x x x x x x

Accessible

location x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Location tourist area/

walk x x

Attractive

appearance x x x x x x x x

Parking x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Outside space x x x x x x

Notice board outside x x x x x x x x x x x x

Soci

al E

vent

s Cele

brati

on p

artie

s M

eetin

gs Pl

aygr

oups

/ chi

ldre

n

Spor

ts/A

rts

Sem

inar

s Tr

aini

ng

Mee

tings

AG M

Info

rmati

on e

vent

s

Mee

tings

Co

nfer

ence

s Sa

les v

enue

Sub-

let s

pace An

nexe

to m

ain

site

Stud

ent o

utre

ach

U3

A

Holid

ay P

lay

sche

mes

Sum

mer

scho

ol Se

min

ars/

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ning

Long

er c

ours

es

Security x x x

Target Markets Local community

Voluntary Sector

Public sector

Business

Education

Training companies

Other…

Sub-Market

Facilities

Dance floor x x

Toilets x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Entertainment licence

x x

Large centre x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Meeting room x x x x x x x x x x

Drying facilities x

Disabled access/Toilets x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Good heating x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Self-catering/ fully equipped kitchen

x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Soci

al E

vent

s Cele

brati

on p

artie

s M

eetin

gs Pl

aygr

oups

/ chi

ldre

n

Spor

ts/A

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Sem

inar

s Tr

aini

ng

M

eetin

gs AG M

In

form

ation

eve

nts

M

eetin

gs

Conf

eren

ces

Sale

s ven

ue Su

b-le

t spa

ce Anne

xe to

mai

n sit

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uden

t out

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Ho

liday

Pla

y sc

hem

es

Sum

mer

scho

ol Se

min

ars/

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ning

Long

er c

ours

es

Refreshment facilities x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Play/sports equipment x x x

Changing/Shower facilities x x x

Broadband/IT Facilities x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Target Markets Local community

Voluntary Sector

Public sector

Business

Education

Training companies

Other…

Sub-Market

Facilities

Storage facilities X X X X X x x x

Sports field/Outdoor space X X X

Chairs/Table/Soft furnishings

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Training equipment X X X X X X X X X X X X

Range of lighting X X X X X

Good acoustics X X X X X X

Staging X X X X X

Soci

al E

vent

s Cele

brati

on p

artie

s M

eetin

gs Pl

aygr

oups

/ chi

ldre

n

Spor

ts/A

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Sem

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ng

Mee

tings

AG M

Info

rmati

on e

vent

s

Mee

tings

Co

nfer

ence

s Sa

les v

enue

Sub-

let s

pace An

nexe

to m

ain

site

Stud

ent o

utre

ach

U3

A

Holid

ay P

lay

sche

mes

Sum

mer

scho

ol Se

min

ars/

Trai

ning

Long

er c

ours

es

Other…

Annex 4 Example of Brochures for Centres

West Hampstead Women’s Centre http://www.whwc.org.uk/services/rooms/docs/Rooms_for_hire_WHWC.pdf The Threshold Centre http://active4life.eu.com/a4l/index.php/threshold-centre-services/hall-hire/ St Luke’s Centre

http://www.slpt.org.uk/roomhire/documents/StLukesRoomHireEbrochureJuly2012.pdf

Other websites providing good examples of how to market premises attractively on line include:

Centre Comments

Coin Street (South Bank, London) www.coinstreet.org

Excellent website – although a much bigger operation than the majority of Islington centres, this is a good example of how to present information well.

The Abbey Centre (Westminster, London) www.theabbeycentre.org.uk

Good website – at a glance overview, taking you through to lots of details about each room (capacity with different seating arrangements, etc.) Also link to special conference brochure Download our conference/catering PDF. Interesting emphasis placed on the wider benefits of hiring their space. Examples from their website: ‘CSR Bonus: your meeting room hire fees help support our dynamic community centre, bringing together children, families and older people from our diverse neighbourhood’ Parker Morris Hall Large hall for meetings, conferences and events. Hire this hall to contribute towards activities such as ballroom dancing for older people Wash House Annex Hiring the Annexe supports activities such as the Bosnian & Herzegovinian supplementary school on Saturdays.

St. Mary’s Church (Sheffield) www.stmaryschurch.co.uk

Website has some good features. Includes a virtual tour – see what you think!

Shoreditch Trust (Hackney, London) www.shoreditchtrust.o

Good website. Waterhouse Conference Centre - Interesting at how promote social and environmental awareness angle in marketing.

rg.uk

Kesgrave Conference Centre & Community Centre (Ipswich) www.kwmcc.co.uk

Quite a good website – good, at a glance overview of facilities + quite good on catering offer

Clarendon Centre, Brighton www.clarendoncentre.org.uk

Bigger outfit, but website has good points that smaller organisations could replicate. Clear website with lots of info, including plans of each floor so you can see how rooms relate to each other (useful if trying to plan [say] a big meeting needing breakout rooms.)

Annexe 5 More about the Community Hubs Business Development Programme

Background: the CHBD programme

The Community Hubs Business Development (CHBD) programme was designed for Islington’s Community Hubs (a network of the larger community centres) by a partnership of Voluntary Action Islington, CENTA (Camden Enterprise Agency) and the Octopus Network (formed by Islington’s community hubs.) It was delivered by CENTA, and overseen by Octopus.

It was conceived through discussions with member Hubs seeking practical solutions for generating additional revenue. Through these initial discussions, a consensus emerged that the physical space occupied by all Hubs would represent the best focus for a planned marketing drive. Its primary purpose was to enable all Hubs to develop Marketing Plans, to add to their existing Hub Business Plans.

The programme was designed flexibly, in order to respond to individual and collective needs. Each community building was at its own stage of generating income, and the idea was for each centre to work through the programme at their own pace, with tailored support.

The partnership offered the following support to the hubs:

a minimum of 12-hours of support for each Hub, which can be tailored to feature 1-2-1 support and workshops.

Participating hubs were asked to commit to:

attending planned events and 1-2-1 support sessions completing ledgers and exercises preparing individual Hub Space marketing plans