In our Brand Basics series, we’ll be looking at the process of brand development, from setting up and getting established to maintaining your brand in the long-term. But first, let’s start with those all-important first steps:

1. Doing your research

While you may have already conducted extensive research on your particular product or service, developing your brand requires a solid understanding of aspects such as your target audience, competitor brands and the market in which you’ll be operating.

Questions to consider include:

- What is the demographic of your target audience?
- What sort of behaviours, interests and preferences are displayed by the people you’re targeting?
- Who are your key competitors?
- How will your brand differentiate itself/stand out from rival companies?

Before you can embark on developing your brand, it is essential to equip yourself with as much information as possible on all the factors influencing the way you will conduct your business and market your brand going forward.

2. Choosing your business name

Come up with a short pick list of names that reflect the personality of the brand you are creating, making sure there aren’t too many companies with similar names operating in a similar industry to yours. Use online business registers to ensure these names haven’t already been taken, as well as checking the availability of potential domain names for each business name option.
At this stage, it’s also important to consider the potential brand damage of a competitor entering the market with a similar business name and almost identical domain name to your own. To protect against this, consider registering multiple business names and domains. You can also secure different versions of your domain name, e.g. by registering the .net as well as the .com version.

3. Developing your corporate identity

Your corporate identity is the visual representation of your brand, communicating what your brand is about through the use of graphics, colours and imagery. Developing a strong corporate identity that is consistent across all customer touch points is essential for creating a brand that stands out from the competition and sends a clear message about who you are to your target audience.
Your brand logo is central to the development of your corporate identity…

4. Creating a company website

There is no doubt that a company website is an essential part of any business. But having a second-rate website can potentially be more damaging to your brand than not having a website at all. Your website is your virtual office – but it is also your online shopfront, and for many potential customers will be the first aspect of your business they see.

To make the best first impression, you need a high-quality website that is easy to use, is consistent with your corporate identity design, and effectively communicates your brand messages and values. Investing in a professionally-designed website is strongly advised, as with increasingly internet-savvy consumers scour the net for products and services, the importance of online marketing is growing at a rapid rate.
When developing your company website, you’ll also need to think about how customers will find you online. SEO (search engine optimisation) can be an extremely valuable tool in helping your website stand out in a crowded marketplace and get noticed by your target audience.

What now?

Now you’ve set up your brand, it’s time to let people know about it. Raising awareness of your brand and building up a customer base requires a targeted marketing strategy that is consistent with your brand and focused on your target audience – stay tuned for the next of our Brand Basics blog posts to find out more.

Do you agree with our first steps to creating a brand? Is there anything we’ve missed? Please let us know – you can leave your comments below….

1. Ensure your website is easy-to-navigate and user friendly
A visitor entering your website is the online equivalent of a customer walking into a shop, so you need to make sure you provide a welcoming first impression that makes it immediately clear what you offer, the benefits of your offering, and how the consumer can find what they’re looking for.

Aim to make the online shopping experience as enjoyable and straightforward as possible – just as with a real store, customers aren’t going to stick around if the process is confusing, difficult or overly time-consuming. Your e-commerce website should therefore make it simple for shoppers to find their way around, with every effort made to guide them through the steps from browsing to buying.

2. Address common customer queries with an FAQ section
Incorporating an FAQ section on your retail website allows you to provide your customers with instant answers to the general questions they are likely to have, saving them the trouble of getting in touch directly.

Make sure your FAQs address issues that will assist customers in their purchasing process – such as delivery details and returns policy – as well as information on what to do if they experience technical problems when using your website.

3. Make it easy for customers to contact you
Despite the popularity of online shopping, consumers still want the reassurance that should anything go wrong, they can get in touch with a real person. It’s therefore important to let customers know how they can contact your business – in addition to displaying your email address and/or phone number, an online contact form provides a quick and convenient way for customers to get in touch..

Encourage customers to make contact should they require any assistance, but also be sure to direct them to your FAQs before they contact you, in case their query can be answered online.

4. Offer a flexible returns policy
One of the biggest deterrents for people considering making an online purchase is the question of what to do if they need to return an item. Traditionally, this would simply be a case of taking your item back to the store, but many consumers have the perception that in the online world, returns are much more complicated.

However, there’s no reason why online returns need to be a hassle for the consumer. By providing a straightforward and flexible returns policy which is clearly outlined on your website, customers will feel reassured that if their item isn’t quite right, it’s easy for them to ‘take it back’, which in turn will give them more confidence to make a purchase.

5. Include detailed product descriptions
Generally, the more information you give customers about your products, the more confident they will feel in making a purchase. It stands to reason that without being able to view the product in real life, online consumers want to feel they are obtaining an accurate depiction of the product before they commit to buying.

Provide shoppers with as much detail as you can, from product dimensions and colour details to usage/care instructions. Also, make sure the price is clearly displayed with the product.

6. Maintain regular communication with your customers
Customer service isn’t just restricted to your online store. Regular email communication is a great way of developing customer relationships, building brand awareness and getting people to interact with your business.

Use emails to inform your audience about things like special offers and new products, ideally using the information you hold about your customers to tailor this content for more personalised communications. Encourage email newsletter opt-ins by making the incentives clear, such as exclusive promotions or being the first to know about special deals.

When Make It Happen was tasked with developing an e-commerce website for an Australian jewellery retailer, delivering a high standard of online customer service was a priority. Take a look at what we did here

If you’re an online retailer, let the MIH community know how you ensure your customers receive the best level of customer service. We’d love to hear from you, so get in touch by leaving your comments below…

So how do you ensure your company blog works for both your business and your customers?

Tell your audience what they want to hear

Your company blog should always be focused on providing your customers with high quality information that’s of real value to them. What do your target audience want to read about? Think about how you can give your customers the information they’re most likely to be interested in, as well as addressing any questions you feel they may have.

Steer clear of the vague or insubstantial – an effective business blog needs to provide solid, practical information that is relevant to your target audience. Presenting information in the form of ‘top tips’ or ‘how to guides’ can be an effective way of making your content easily accessible to readers.

Position your company as an expert in the field

Setting up a company blog can be a great way of establishing your business as an authority within your particular industry. By choosing topics that are relevant to the field in which you operate and demonstrating your understanding of these areas, people will recognise your business as an industry expert and will turn to you as a reliable source for industry information.

Be ‘human’

Your company blog should represent the human voice of your brand’s personality – after all, people are much more likely to interact with another person than a business. Decide how you want your brand to come across through your blog posts and ensure that all contributing staff members stick to the agreed tone and style.

With a blog, there’s also a licence to adopt a slightly more informal tone than you might use in other forms of business communication. To effectively engage your readers and encourage interaction, try to incorporate a conversational tone of voice that reinforces the ‘human’ element of your company, while still upholding the overall style and values of your brand.

Update your blog regularly

This is one of the most obvious – and yet most difficult – aspects of company blogging. To form a successful part of your online marketing strategy, your blog must be regularly updated with high quality content. ‘Regularly’ can mean anything from once a week to once a month at the very least.

Make blogging a part of your company routine so you don’t end up with an idle blog that reflects badly on your business. Plan topics out in advance and encourage staff members to get involved by flagging up any potential topics they feel would be suitable for the company blog.

Optimise your blog posts

Just as you’d optimise your website copy to make your site ‘findable’ by search engines, so too should you ensure your blog post copy is optimised for the key search terms related to the topic it concerns.

If you’re not an SEO expert, simply choose a maximum of three phrases that relate to your blog post topic and incorporate them a few times within the copy (say 5-6 times in a 400 word blog post, ideally closer to the start of the post than the end). Also make sure your main keyword phrase is included in the blog post title and headings.

Take every opportunity to share

It’s all very well having killer content on your company blog, but how are you going to make sure your audience know it’s there? By making it abundantly clear, that’s how! Promote your company blog on every available platform – link to relevant articles within your email communications, make your blog a feature of your website’s homepage, and share blog content on your social media pages.

How do you make blogging work for your business? If you’ve got your own tips to share on successful company blogging, get in touch by leaving your comments below…

First though, a quick overview of how Pinterest works:

Users are provided with a number of boards – like virtual cork boards – and can share images they like by ‘pinning’ them to their boards. People can like or comment on other people’s boards, as well as choosing to follow them, much like on Facebook or Twitter. By installing the ‘Pin It’ button on your computer, you can pin images you find online, while business owners can install a similar button on their website to allow visitors to share their images.

So what do you need to be aware of when using Pinterest for your business? Here are our top ten tips…

1. Don’t go overboard with the self-promotion
Although Pinterest doesn’t currently differentiate between personal users and businesses, brands large and small are finding innovative ways of marketing their business and connecting with their audience through the site.

However, promoting your brand is not just about pinning a bunch of your own product images to your boards. To utilise Pinterest successfully, you need to provide your audience with images that fit in with their lifestyle and tastes. Effective Pinterest marketing involves developing a strategy that promotes your business in a creative but subtle way, always ensuring your images give users a compelling reason to actively engage with your Pinterest profile.

2. Maintain brand consistency across your Pinterest activity
As with any social media marketing, it’s vital that all your activity is in line with your overall brand image and values. Every image you pin, every comment you make and every person you follow must be consistent with this.

Make sure any staff members responsible for updating your Pinterest account are aware of how your business needs to be promoted in order to ensure consistency on this platform.

3. Categorise your Pinterest boards
Pinterest users have the ability to create separate categories for each of their boards. Categorising boards makes them easier to find, resulting in greater exposure of your pins and helping you to get more followers.

Creative and interesting category titles are more likely to encourage users to engage with your pins. Also, consider what type of categories people are likely to be searching for in order to get the most exposure for your business.

4. Think about your image descriptions
For every image you pin, you are asked to enter a brief description. Use these descriptions to create interest around the image, as well as communicate with your audience and encourage them to interact by liking, commenting or repinning.

In addition, be sure to include important keywords within the description text, as well as a link to your website (ideally to an appropriate landing page for the image in question).

5. Remember that Pinterest is not just for retailers
While the most obvious use for Pinterest as a business marketing tool is for retail businesses to share their product images, service providers and other business types can use Pinterest successfully by adopting a creative approach to the content they share.

Many non-retail businesses have come up with innovative ways to market their brand on Pinterest. One company successfully generated awareness and excitement for an upcoming event by pinning quirky images of landmarks in the city where the event was to take place, while a B2B marketing agency attracted a following after sharing interesting and shareable data images, such as graphs depicting user numbers for social media sites.

6. Encourage people to interact with your business
Just as with business marketing on Facebook, Twitter and the like, getting users to interact with your social profile on Pinterest is an essential element in effectively marketing your brand.

On Pinterest, user interaction can take the form of visitors to your website pinning featured images, other Pinterest users repinning images pinned on your boards, and people pinning their own images related to your business, such as images of themselves using your product or service.

7. Choose the right time of day to pin
To ensure maximum exposure, time your Pinterest activity for when your audience is most likely to be using social media. This is generally over the lunchtime period and during the evening, although typical commuting periods are also used for checking in with social networking sites.

Of course, timing your Pinterest activity in this way will be more difficult for organisations with customers in different time zones.

8. Check out how your competitors are using Pinterest
Seeing how your industry competitors are utilising Pinterest can be very valuable in establishing what your own business should be doing. Before getting started with Pinterest, do your research into the activity of other companies in your field – what type of images are they pinning and what content is attracting the most followers?

Once you’ve discovered how your competitors are using Pinterest, consider what your business can do in order to stand out from the competition and offer something extra to customers.

9. Be an active member of the Pinterest community
As mentioned previously, successful Pinterest marketing is not about simply sharing your product images and expecting people to engage with you. Those businesses that experience the most success from Pinterest are likely to be the ones that are actively involved in the Pinterest community.

Comment, like, repin….do all you can to show that your business is using Pinterest for more than just self-promotion.

10. Make sure you have the time to dedicate to Pinterest
Signing your business up to Pinterest is easy – the hard part, as with any social media marketing, is ensuring you participate effectively on a regular basis.

Before you make the decision to get involved with Pinterest, be mindful of the fact that it will require an ongoing investment of time and resources. The only way this social networking site will form a successful part of your online marketing strategy is if you dedicate the time needed to make it work for your brand.

Has your business signed up to the Pinterest phenomenon? What are you ‘pinning’ to promote your brand? We’d love to hear your thoughts on using Pinterest for business, so leave your comments below…

The easiest way? Create a single marketing campaign and roll it out worldwide.

It sounds simple, but the development of a single marketing campaign that will work in every one of your local markets requires the right approach to ensure execution is effective and consistent across all regions.

The following are two different ways to approach the same problem. When faced with the challenge of taking your product to local markets, consider which approach will work best for your requirements, bearing in mind factors such as campaign objectives, budget and timeframe.

The Fixed Approach

• - Create one set of campaign materials and a universal go-to-market model at a global level.
• - Have every region run these in the exact way you have set out.
• - Provide a clear overview of what materials are available and when they can be used.
• - Ensure all required assets (call guides, eDMs, DMs etc.) feature fixed creative branding and are easy to implement as they are.

The benefit of this approach is that it is relatively fast and easy to develop. However, as differences in culture and sales models are not allowed for, there is a risk of limited uptake and results, which could lead to a low ROI.

The Flexible Approach

• - Develop a range of customisable campaign materials and go-to market approaches that can be tailored to address the specific needs of the local market in each country.

• - Encourage each region/country to select the materials they want, update them as appropriate and use them when they need to.

• - Provide a campaign overview that includes recommended execution timeframes and context, and the tools needed to position the campaign with key sales stakeholders.

While this approach requires a little more time and investment initially, the result is a more cohesive campaign that can deliver a higher ROI. Local marketing teams also benefit by having more money to spend on execution.

Developing the campaign – a case study
Here’s how Make It Happen used a flexible approach to global marketing in a recent campaign:

• - Three ways to present an IT solution to prospective customers were identified: a large ‘Showcase’ event, the by appointment ‘Demo Day’ and for when greater interest was established, a more in-depth, in-house ‘Workshop’.
• - The entire campaign was built around these three options, giving local marketing leads multiple ways of constructing their campaigns.
• - A detailed campaign overview and a full set of campaign materials were provided, including invitations, call guides, presentations and signage, DMs and eDMs. Each piece could be easily tailored and if necessary, translated into the local language.

Taking the flexible approach, campaign development took a few weeks more than the one-size-fits-all version. But within weeks, it was being translated and rolled out in four countries – no hard sell required. And most of the local marketing budget was available to spend on lead generation and progression.

To see an example of the flexible global marketing campaign Make It Happen created, view our IBM Global HANA Campaign Case Study.

Firstly, it’s worth considering the potential benefits offered by collective buying websites, which include:

• Increased exposure: Your brand and offering are made visible to a large number of potential customers.
• New customers: Many offers are purchased by first time buyers, providing your business with brand new customers.
• Repeat business: By enticing customers to try out your business, you have the opportunity to convert new clients into repeat customers who return to pay full price.
• Advance payment: As purchasers of your deal pay in advance, you will receive a lump sum payment upfront.

Clearly then there are a number of ways in which businesses stand to gain by signing up to a daily deal website. But is it as straightforward as submitting a deal and enjoying the benefits? Inevitably the answer is no, and any business considering using a group buying website as part of their online marketing strategy needs to take a number of factors into account.

Before making the decision to sign your business up to a group buying website, make sure you’ve considered the following five areas:

1. Do your sums
While your special offer should be compelling and provide clear value for the customer, you need to make sure your business isn’t losing out. Work out exactly how much your product or service costs you and how much you can afford to reduce the price by.

Also remember that the group buying website in question will charge their own fee/percentage, so bear this amount in mind too.

2. Don’t offer more than you can handle
A number of businesses have come unstuck after underestimating the high demand for their deal and then finding themselves unable to deliver on what they offered. This situation can cause considerable damage to a brand’s reputation as frustrated customers share their disappointments online.

Most group buying websites allow you to put a cap on the amount of deals you want to sell. It’s essential that you are realistic about how many offers your business is able to commit to in order to ensure you keep your coupon buyers happy.

3. Keep onselling in mind
To improve your ROI, it’s important to create an offer that enables you to onsell to the customer. Rather than providing a discount on an all-inclusive package with little scope for add-ons, select an offer that makes it easy to suggest optional extras to deal redeemers.

4. Choose the right deal company
With a large number of group buying websites to choose from, it’s important to select a site that’s right for your business.

Aside from the major players such as Groupon and Living Social, there is also a wide range of smaller companies that may be more suitable for small businesses. If your business operates within a particular area, be sure to choose a site that offers a local focus in order to target customers in the vicinity of your location.

5. Aim for repeat business
Acquiring repeat customers is the best way to get the most out of a daily deal website, so always make sure that deal purchasers receive the same level of service as your full-paying clients. Give customers clear incentives for returning or making a repeat purchase, as well as for recommending your business to others.

Do you think group buying websites make good business sense? If you’ve got something to share on this topic, get in touch by leaving your comments below…

The following five features of Facebook Timeline are likely to be the most significant for business pages. Make sure you’re aware of what each new feature means and how it can be used to successfully market your brand on Facebook.

1. Cover Photo
The large cover photo (measuring 851 x 315 pixels) is a major feature of the new-look Timeline format. While this area provides a great opportunity for showcasing engaging images and graphics, there are strict guidelines for what content is allowed within the photo. The aim is to prevent businesses from using this space solely for promotion, so you can’t feature words such as ‘Like’, ‘Share’ and ‘discounts’, or even include arrows pointing to the ‘Like’ or ‘Share’ buttons below.

However, with a bit of creativity, your cover photo can attract the attention of users and communicate your brand effectively. Consider ways to make your cover image stand out, while keeping it consistent and recognisable as part of your brand. Also, remember that you can (and generally should) update this photo on a regular basis.

2. Tabs and Apps
One of the biggest changes caused by the new Timeline format is the lack of a default landing page, previously used by businesses as a platform for attracting non-fans and enticing users to ‘Like’ the page in return for rewards. With Timeline, you have different tabs represented by icons, of which four are visible at a time. These include Facebook’s default apps/features such as Photos, Events and Notes, as well as your own custom apps.

Although many businesses are unhappy with the disappearance of the customised landing page, the new Timeline format still offers useful features for marketing. For example, as each tab or app has a unique URL, you can direct internal or external traffic to any of these pages. What’s more, custom apps have more space in which to operate and you can add a custom thumbnail image to each of your apps, allowing you to incorporate creative branding and calls to action within the thumbnail images.

3. Milestones
The Milestones feature enables you to add noteworthy events from your company’s history onto your Timeline, which will then be posted to your fans’ news feeds on the anniversary of that date.

This feature provides a good opportunity to increase visibility and share relevant and interesting information about your brand with users. Be selective about what you add as a milestone and ensure the information you share is consistent with your overall branding and messaging.

4. Highlighted Posts
In addition to the normal style of posting, Timeline allows you to highlight or star posts to increase their prominence. Starring a post means it will be displayed across the full width of the Timeline (rather than half), making it much more visible to page viewers.

In addition, you can pin certain updates to the top of your wall for up to 7 days. This can be useful for communicating important messages you want fans to take notice of, but it’s advisable to update posts every few days to keep your page fresh.

5. Interest Lists
A recently added feature of the new Facebook Timeline is the ability for fans to add your business page to an Interest List. These lists contain a wide range of topics, enabling Facebook users to mark pages they like and categorise them into appropriate sections.

Interest Lists are likely to become an important aspect of Facebook marketing, with a raft of ways for businesses to encourage fans and visitors to add their page to a list.

Have you already made the switch to Facebook Timeline? Is the new format better or worse for business marketing? Share your comments below…

The objective is clear: to firstly make your organisation visible to potential donors, stakeholders and government bodies, followed by effectively convincing them of the benefits (to themselves and the recipients) of making a donation. And this objective is what much of marketing is all about – increasing awareness and persuading people to follow your call to action. Why then are NFPs generally reluctant to outsource their marketing to achieve this goal? The reasoning behind this often includes the following:

We don’t have the money to invest in marketing
There’s no denying that NFPs – that tend to be under-funded, under-resourced and extremely time-poor – have no choice but to be very budget-conscious. But as with any business investment, it is the potential return that must be considered. By investing what they can and outsourcing their marketing as appropriate, NFPs can expect to see a healthy rise in donations as a result of targeted campaigns that reach potential donors. Even a one-off investment (such as getting a professional website built – see below) can yield positive results.

One of our staff members knows a bit about marketing – we’ll get by using him/her
All too often, NFPs attempt to conduct their marketing in-house, using already busy employees engaged in other roles who, with little marketing experience, often lack the skills, time and resources to develop and execute effective campaigns. All this achieves is an increased workload for the staff member, and marketing activities that do not have the desired reach or impact.

We send out flyers in the mail – isn’t that enough?
In a competitive marketplace, NFPs can no longer rely solely on the ubiquitous direct mail piece to win over donors. While this traditional channel still has a place within the overall marketing mix, organisations cannot expect this technique alone to generate action. Instead, an integrated approach that incorporates a raft of channels – both online and offline – is essential in getting the message across to donors and stakeholders.

So what type of marketing activities should NFPs be considering if they want to stand out and get noticed by their target audience?

• A quality website
A company website is a platform for communicating your organisation’s key messages and inspiring potential donors to take up your cause. A high-quality, professionally-designed site tailored to your requirements is much more effective in attracting and engaging this audience. Ensuring your website is ‘findable’ by your target market is also very valuable, so SEO is well worth the investment.

• Email marketing
Direct mail for the digital age, email marketing is a convenient and cost-effective way of communicating with a large number of people, enabling you to get the right message across to the right audience. Campaigns must, however, be properly developed and executed with relevant and compelling messaging to achieve results.

• Digital channels
Having an online presence is essential in ensuring your organisation is visible to your target market. Social media – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. – is an increasingly popular marketing channel for NFPs, allowing them to communicate directly with donors and actively encourage people to get involved. A corporate blog can also provide an ideal platform for conveying relevant information to your audience.

• Integrated campaigns
Most important of all for NFPs attempting to stand out and get noticed is making sure your campaigns are properly integrated, with varied components that come together to project a consistent message. Traditional marketing channels such as direct mail and telemarketing can still prove highly effective – but only if they are conducted in conjunction with online channels. Similarly, digital marketing alone is unlikely to generate the best results, but when properly integrated with offline elements, you stand a much better chance of reaching your target market and achieving those much-needed donations.

Make It Happen was recently tasked with providing marketing services to raise awareness and increase funding for an indigenous charity. Here’s how we achieved this. 

If you have something to share on this topic, why not get in touch? Leave your comments below…

As we discussed in part two, identifying the preferences and behaviour of your target audience – as well as the marketing strategies being used by your competitors – is essential in establishing which marketing channels will work best for your business. But with so many options available, deciding which platforms to choose can be a daunting task. So to help you get going on your marketing journey, we’ve chosen four easy-to-implement marketing channels that offer a great way to take your first steps towards becoming marketing active.

1) Invest in a quality website
With an estimated 14 million Australians turning to the internet to search for products and services, a company website is an essential part of your marketing mix. While low-cost or even free website options may be tempting to budget-conscious marketers, there is no substitute for a well-designed, high-quality website that positions your brand as professional, credible and current.

For many potential customers, your website will form the basis of their first impression of your business, so investing in a quality site can make a big difference in attracting consumers and persuading them to choose you over your competitors. Using professional web design services will ensure that your website is tailored to the specific requirements of your business, delivering a platform that allows you to communicate with your target audience and share the benefits of your offering effectively.

2) Start using email marketing
Email is the most popular form of communication for businesses across Australia, offering a convenient and cost-effective means of contacting a large number of people. But to leverage this channel to its full potential, you need to plan your email marketing carefully to ensure your message is successfully delivered (both literally and figuratively) to your target market.

A successful email marketing campaign relies on high quality data, good design and copy, and messaging that is engaging, compelling and relevant to your audience. Providing customers with information that is beneficial to them is far more effective than simply plugging your brand – even better, use what you already know about your customers to personalise the communication. Finally, use in-depth tracking software to measure the results of your campaign (open rates, click-throughs etc.), and use this feedback to inform your next round of activity.

3) Get involved with social media
Social networking websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus, are becoming increasingly important marketing platforms for businesses large and small. If your research suggests that your target audience are serious about social media, that means you need to be too. Once you’ve established which sites are the most frequented by your customers and potential customers, create company profiles on these sites, making sure the information you provide is relevant to the social networking site in question and not just a sales pitch for your business.

Be proactive about encouraging people to interact with your site (offering incentives can be an effective way of doing this) and make sure you regularly update your social networking profiles with relevant and interesting information. Social media can be a great way to communicate and engage with your target audience, providing the opportunity for you to inform users about your brand, keep them updated with latest developments, and entice them with special offers and incentives.

4) Deliver your message via direct mail
In our age of digital marketing, it is important not to overlook traditional forms of marketing communications. In fact, the most effective strategies are those which incorporate both online and offline elements within the marketing mix.

Printed direct mail pieces – such as flyers, sales letters and brochures – can be highly effective in raising brand awareness and attracting the attention of potential customers. Creativity is key, as is consistency with your overall branding. As with email marketing, a compelling message that is relevant and beneficial to the recipient is essential, and so are clear calls to action. Invest in good quality print materials to convey a professional and credible brand image.

If you have something to share on this topic, why not get in touch? Leave your comments below…

In order to create an effective marketing strategy, you need to develop a thorough understanding of your market, your competitors and your business itself. This means getting back to basics and equipping yourself with all the information you need to identify marketing activities that work for your brand.

1) Research your target market
How much do you know about the target audience of your product or service? We’re not just talking about age, sex or occupation (though, of course, you need to know these too). To have the best chance of reaching your target market, you need to dig deeper and find out exactly what drives them towards purchase.

What kind of triggers are they most likely to respond to? Which elements of the marketing mix have the most impact on them? How will your product or service benefit them? Understanding these aspects of your target audience will enable you to position and market your brand accordingly, so comprehensive market research is essential. It’s often easier (and more cost-effective) to outsource this type of research to a professional agency who will be better placed to obtain the information you need.

2) Analyse your competition
In order to stay ahead of your competitors, you need to know who they are, what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. Once you’ve identified who your key business competitors are, look into the marketing methods they’re using and the way in which they have positioned their brand. What channels and platforms have they chosen to market their business? How are they promoting their brand and its products/services? Consider which elements are crucial to your own business and how you can position your brand in order to get ahead.

3) Define your objectives
What do you want to achieve from your marketing activity? Whether it’s to increase your revenue, establish your business in a new market segment or improve brand awareness, setting clear, measurable marketing objectives is vital in understanding what steps need to be taken in order to achieve these goals.

Make sure that each identified objective is specific (how much do you want to increase revenue by?), achievable (is it realistic?) and has a timeframe for accomplishment (are you aiming to achieve this goal in three months or a year?). You also need to make sure that your marketing objectives tie in with your overall business objectives.

4) Understand your business
You may think you have a pretty good understanding of your business, but it’s surprising what insights can be achieved when you conduct a thorough SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). Be rigorous, be meticulous, and above all be brutally honest. Is a lack of staff training letting your business down? Are your prices too high to compete in today’s market? Arming yourself with this knowledge is invaluable in developing a marketing strategy that leverages your company’s strengths and addresses those areas which need to be improved.

In the next instalment of the MIH guide to becoming marketing active, we’ll be looking at the raft of marketing channels available and helping you to identify which ones are best for your business.

If you have something to share on this topic, why not get in touch? Leave your comments below…