Marketing Your Business

Skill Build

March 2015

Hello!

• My name is Mel Kanarek

• My business is called TigerNash Ltd.

• I’m a marketing and business development specialist, working mainly in the creative and digital industries

• I help start-ups and small businesses to grow

Getting to know you

• How many people here have already started a business?

• How many are just at the idea stage?

• How many are social enterprises?

• How many are purely online businesses?

• How many selling to consumers?

• How many selling to other businesses?

Today

• A very rapid look at marketing your business

• We can’t cover everything

• I’ve pulled out some tips for you

• I’ll try to leave time for a few questions at the end

• Let’s get started . . .

What is marketing?

• “Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.”

(Chartered Institute of Marketing)

• And – the process of building a relationship with customers.

• It’s about strategy as well as tactics.

What do you want to achieve?

• Marketing needs objectives – otherwise how will you know if it is working?

• The obvious objective is:“To sell more of my product/service”

• Other examples of objectives:“To increase subscriptions / sign-ups”

“To generate advanced orders”“To raise funds”

BE CLEAR ON WHAT YOUR OBJECTIVE IS

AND MAKE IT MEASURABLE

TIP NUMBER 1:

Four key questions

Once you’ve established your objective, you will need to answer four questions

Four Questions

• Do I know who my customers are?

• Do I know how my product/service solves a problem for my customers?

• Can I tell a compelling story to my customersabout why they should buy from me?

• How will my customers find out about my product/service?

MARKETING IS NOT ABOUT YOU –

IT’S ABOUT YOUR CUSTOMERS

TIP NUMBER 2:

Avoid the trap

• You understand your business, you live it every day

• Your customers don’t

• What matters to you may be irrelevant to your customers

• Successful marketing is about figuring out what matters to your customers

The 4 questions

• Who are my customers?

• What problem do I solve for them?

• What’s my story?

• How shall I tell it?

Market research

• Who are my customers?

– What type of people?

– Where are they?

– How do they prefer to buy?

– What factors influence their buying decisions?

– How do they find out about things?

• Who are my competition?

Competition

• There is always competition

• Direct

– Products or services that are the same or similar to yours

• Indirect

– Other things that your customers might prefer to spend on e.g. “Shall I get a take-away or shall I buy a meal for two from the supermarket?”

DO YOUR RESEARCH

ANDKEEP DOING IT

TIP NUMBER 3:

The 4 questions

• Who are my customers?

• What problem do I solve for them?

• What’s my story?

• How shall I tell it?

What problem do I solve?

• Avoid the trap – think about what matters to your customers, not to you

• Benefits rather than features• People respond to “what’s in it for me?”• Understanding that will help you tell your

compelling story• It may be something unexpected

– Example: my Kindle

• Remember – ask your customers what they think

The 4 questions

• Who are my customers?

• What problem do I solve for them?

• What’s my story?

• How shall I tell it?

What’s my compelling story?

• Stories are how humans communicate and learn

• You want to convince your customers that your solution is the best choice for them – tell them a story that they can relate to

• Stories are a great way to build a relationship with your customers

• “People buy from people”

“Providing the good folk of Sheffield and beyond with fresh bread and pastries since November 2012.

“We like to make things simply. Food produced with good ingredients, over long periods of time without the use of improvers or additives. We make everything from scratch, which means everyone knows exactly what’s in it.”

Story telling

• Keep your language as straight forward and jargon free as you can

• Make your language appropriate to your customers

• Use an active tone

• Don’t be afraid to use emotion

• Short sentences work best

TELL A STORY

ANDTELL IT IN A WAY THAT IS MEANINGFUL TO YOUR CUSTOMERS

TIP NUMBER 4:

The 4 questions

• Who are my customers?

• What problem do I solve for them?

• What’s my story?

• How shall I tell it?

How will my customers find out about my product/service?

• There are hundreds of different marketing tactics (yes, really)

• Which ones will be most effective in reaching and convincing your customers?

• Be realistic about the time and budget you have available – think about the return you need to make on that investment

• Don’t assume that online is always the best way to go

Some “traditional” tactics

• Face to face

• Posters

• Flyers

• Samples

• Letters

• Telephone calls

• Point of sale displays

The “call to action”

• Effective marketing encourages customers to take the next step towards buying

• What do you want customers to do next?

• Make it really easy for them to do it

Some online tactics

• Your web site

• Emails

• Search optimisation

• Pay per click

• Social media

• Content marketing - any marketing that involves the creation and sharing of media and publishing content in order to acquire and retain customers

A few words on web sites

• First impressions count

• Think about what your visitors are looking for – and make it easy for them to find

• Don’t design for design’s sake – make it fit for purpose and audience

• Make it easy for people to take the next step –whatever you want that to be

A few words on social media

• Just like any other tactic, pick the ones that are most appropriate to your customers

• Be prepared to spend time and effort

• Be consistent

• Think about your content

• Have a strategy for dealing with complaints

• Respond quickly

• Remember – everything is public

Online/offline

• Word of mouth / recommendation• Loyalty schemes• Discounts• Special offers• Free trials• Introductory pricing• Referral incentives• PR• Advertising

Choosing your tactics

• Is this the most appropriate way to reach my customers?

• Does it allow me to communicate consistently and at the right frequency?

• Does it allow me to tell my story well?

• Will it make the best use of my available resources?

• Can I measure the results?

CHOOSE YOUR TACTICS TO SUIT YOUR CUSTOMERS

ANDTO SUIT YOUR RESOURCES

TIP NUMBER 5:

Give it a try

• You can’t do everything - but you should do more than one thing

• Know what you want to achieve

• Be consistent

• Be a personal as you can

• Don’t expect instant results – give it time

• Think in terms of building relationships

• Remember that marketing is an on-going, long term activity

DON’T BE AFRAID TO TRY IDEAS

ANDREMEMBER TO MEASURE AND EVALUATE

TIP NUMBER 6:

Relationships• Once you’ve won a customer, you want to keep

them• It is much easier (and cheaper) to sell more to an

existing customer than to win a new customer• Use your marketing to build relationships with

your customers:– Know their names– Keep in touch with them– Offer them goodies– Ask them what they think– Say “thank you”

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS

LET YOUR CUSTOMERS KNOW THAT YOU VALUE THEM

TIP NUMBER 7:

Let’s recap

1. Be clear on your objectives

2. Marketing is not about you – it’s about your customers (remember the 4 key questions)

3. Do your research

4. Tell a story

5. Choose your tactics to suit your customers and resources

6. Try things out – measure and evaluate

7. Build relationships

Some useful resources

• www.marketingdonut.co.uk

• www.startups.co.uk

• www.smallbusiness.co.uk

• www.entrepreneur.com

GOOD LUCK AND HAPPY MARKETING