04The keys to marketing success

What’s most important when you’re marketing your business?

Marketing... it’s easy isn’t it? Stick some posters up, put together some adverts and that’s it – job done.

Well, call us old-fashioned, but we prefer to be a little more scientific when it comes to something this important. After all, this is your company and you need to choose the best course of action to get it noticed, raise its profile and, ultimately, get more customers.

In actual fact, there are plenty of things you can do to help take your company forward. Here are a few of the things we’d recommend you consider...

PLAN YOUR ATTACK

The first thing you need to do is plan. It might not be sexy or glamorous, but the right planning can make or break your campaign. This is the foundation for your company’s marketing for the next few months – if not the next year. Look at what you want to achieve and try to think of ways that you can hit those targets. These will be the basis of your marketing plan – a living, breathing document that will be vital to your continued success for years to come.

IMAGE IS EVERYTHING

So, you have a plan... but before you start getting those posters printed and that advert placed you need to have a long hard look at your company’s image. Your brand, your marketing material, your website – even your offices… are they consistent? Do they reflect the level of quality you want customers to associate with you? You need to get all these base marketing tools in place before you go any further but, once they’re done, you will have the arsenal you need to create adverts that always look fantastic and that always look like they belong to you. When it comes to getting your name out there, consistency and quality are everything.

KNOW YOUR COMPANY...

And now you have your company’s image nailed down, you need to know how it fits in with the rest of the market and what it offers to customers that no one else can. Write down a list of what makes you stand out – these are your Unique Selling Points, or USPs. These can be tough to come up with, but once you have them they will stand you in good stead – and they will help you come up with the key points you want to flag up in every part of your marketing campaign. You also need to know how your company fits within the market. Whether you’re ‘cheap and cheerful’ or the epitome of quality, it doesn’t matter – what matters is how you apply this to the way you engage with your potential customers. But, of course, knowing your company inside out is only one half of the equation – you also need to know your target audience too.

...AND KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS

Chances are, you probably have an idea on who your best customers are, but it never hurts to take another look… you might be surprised! Once you have identified them and you have a good idea of who your prospective clients actually are, then you know exactly who to target when it comes to designing and placing a suite of adverts. This targeting is an vital part of the process and will help you shape the messages your company puts out, further increasing their effectiveness and essentially making each and every piece of marketing a direct hit on the people who will buy your products and services.

GET THE MESSAGE

Now you know your target market, your company’s USPs and you have a great-looking brand, it’s time to create the right message. In actual fact, you might have several messages – one for each product you sell, or each arm of your company – but every single one must be clear, concise and fit into the overall look and feel of your identity. It’s all too easy to get this far and then muddy the waters by trying to fit in too much information. But if you’re ever in any doubt just remember one thing... keep it simple!

MIX IT UP

So, you have your perfectly-crafted message, now you need to make sure the right people see it. By using your ‘customer profile’ once again you can work out the best places for your campaign. By creating a good marketing mix – including elements as diverse as newspaper adverts, billboards, public events and online banners, to name but a few of those opportunities available – you can develop a huge, blanket campaign without breaking the bank. This is the final hurdle, so it’s vital that you make the right choices and make every single part of the campaign count.

KNOW WHEN TO ASK THE EXPERTS

Of course, your business is just that... YOUR business. You know it inside out – how it works day-to-day – but that doesn’t mean you should know how to market it. It might not be the most difficult thing in the world and some things you can – and should – aim to do yourself.

However, for some things you will need to ask the experts. That’s where we come in.