MARKETING BLOG

Any branding bod worth their salt will recommend that you implement a set of measures to enable you to benchmark the returns you get on your marketing investment.  But finding the right measures can be tough.

Some ingenious chappy had created a site that measures brand equity (and the words it resides in), in simple visual terms. His site, Brand Tags will engage anyone with a interest in brands and absolutely mesmerise marketing junkies - particularly if you were party to the one word equity debate that kicked off a year or so ago. . .

Pay it a visit.  It’s NEAT.

Anybody apart from me who is already bored with hearing/watching stories of economic doom and gloom, everywhere you turn??

My worry is that only part of the story is fact (all those economic indicators that city boffins use are probably showing lower growth), but a lot of the story is down to a self fulfilling prophesy - and the responsibility for this falls firmly at the feet of the world’s media in my mind.

Ultimately the symptoms associated with downturn are mostly to do with confidence - not just the big boys with the big bonuses in the City, but whether regular Joes like you or me feel comfortable splashing out on shopping, whether its houses, cars, clothes and luxuries or food and drink.  So if what we read, see or hear , makes us anxious (regardless of whether our bank statements are telling us the same thing), we are going to behave more cautiously. . .spend less.  Hey presto, more headlines. . .house market on the verge of crashing, the high streets are hitting the doldrums etc etc.

So what about the small business?  Is anyone out there feeling the pinch??  I’m told that marketing budgets are one of the first to be cut when times are tough. . .so my work might hit a rocky patch.  But no signs as yet.  But I’m sure if I was running a small and recently formed Estate Agency, I’d be feeling a bit less positive - I know this because I’m selling my house and guess what. . .it’s taking forever.

What are your experiences is the downturn fact or fiction for your business - leave me a comment and let’s see if we can whip up our own storm in a tea-cup!!

Developing compelling propositions is a key function of marketing. But it isn’t an activity that can be done in isolation. After all, marketing can only articulate and package the proposition - it still has to be sold. And then, of course, it has to be delivered. . . which means sales and operations have to own the proposition too if the whole piece is going to hang together.

For very small businesses, the marketing, sales and operations functions may be one in the same thing. But there are still learnings to be had from considering the 360 degree nature of good proposition development. Because without thinking through the implications of your offer to your client or customer, you could be in real danger of overselling or mis-selling. . .which might deliver quick wins in terms of sales, but is likely to lead to disappointment and fall out, further down the line.

If proposition development is something on your mind, I found some rather nice downloadable resources here. Have a look and see what you think. But don’t forget that us marketing types like to dress up our own proposition with fancy models and lots of neat looking structure. When you strip all of this away, developing a good proposition is a fairly straightforward business: Make a compelling offer to the customer, that’s been thought through in terms of delivery. . .and make the offer from a position of insight or truth - an identified customer need and the ability to do a good job of satisfying that need.

So business is going good for me.  Having thrown the towel in on my corporate career just over a year ago, I stumbled around in the dark for a bit. Slept late, did some jobs around the house that I’d been putting off since I bought it (7 years ago), and then dropped into a bit of interim work.  After that I drifted into freelancing and finally in November I set up my company - more to appease the tax man, that because of any major intent to ‘build’ a business.

It may be true to say that after going through a similar exercise about 10 years ago and being tempted back into the world of work, I had it in the back of my mind that this time I would fill my boots and grow something this time that extended beyond ‘just me.’  But that was it.  No driving ambition.  No laser sharp business plan.  And still no damn business cards.  (Just can’t seem to get round to sending them to print).

But all of a sudden it is more than just me.  A couple of people helping me deliver (and impress) clients.  A web site on the way.  And I’ve even caught myself networking a bit.  Which led me to reflect on the whole ‘what makes an entrepreneur?’ question.

I did a bit of research on the web (after the fact) and found a couple of interesting links.  This one may make you chuckle.  And this one doesn’t offer any surprises, but gives a good summary.

But for me, having met a few successful entrepreneurs, and now wearing some shoes that see me taking decisions for the good (and growth) of my own business, it comes down to a couple of very simple traits:

Entrepreneurs are good at spotting the opportunity. And by that I don’t mean some high brow, rarified talent.  They spot jobs they can do and, importantly, they can see the money to be made from a piece of work or sale.  And the other thing is that they are prepared to take risks (large or small) and put themselves out there.  In most instances that means that once they’ve spotted the opportunity, they are quick to grab it and say ‘yes’.  They are prepared to answer the question, ‘How the heck am I gonna do that’, after the work is secure.

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve had my fingers burnt in the world of new media.  And it’s taught me a couple of valuable lessons about accessing the right skills for the job and taking the high ground on the quality of your marketing communications, regardless of media.

In the heady world of web 2.0, it seems that almost anything is possible.  As you cruise around sites, large and small you are tantalised by slick graphics and engaging animation.  But none of this happens by accident and if you’ve tried to achieve any of these things on your own web site, you’ll know that it can be a rocky road to success.

That’s because such a broad spectrum of skills and expertise has to be combined to create excellence in web design.  You’ve got the quality of the actual content, the quality of the visual execution and design.  You’ve got to understand the cognitive processes of the audience, if you want to create structure and experience that is intuitive.  You’ve got technical skill sets in animation and code and you’ve got the SEO stuff to consider - which I’m cautiously happy to admit, I understand very little about. . .

The point (and the challenge) is this. . . . very, very rarely do these skill sets come in handy packages.  If an individual can do two or more of these things effectively, then BINGO, you’ve got a head start. But I doubt if many people in the whole world can do them all.  Hence why there are so many sites out there that fall short of excellence, and why companies that can and do deliver s**t hot websites can charge hefty rates for your pleasure.

So here’s the nub of the issue.  Pulling together a really great on-line experience requires real collaboration and project management.  It also requires a clear vision of what you want the user experience to be. . . because it’s also very easy to get seduced by the possibilities of web design and end up with a spangly product that fails to connect.

For anyone looking to produce an advanced web presence, my advice is this:  Make sure your partner can demonstrate creativity and technical excellence in equal measure.  Check their credentials and look at live examples of their work, making sure that they’ve delivered the whole thing and not part, thereof.  And make sure that they’ve got the breadth of skill base to be able to deliver what you ask (which means there’s probably going to have to be at least 2, 3 or more people with complementary skill sets working together as a fairly tight unit to get your job done and done well).

Oh and one final thing. . . be prepared to wait.  Guys (or girls) who have the skill sets you are after are likely to be in demand.  Which means you may have to wait a little while before you get to take your turbo-charged web site for a spin.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, well written, relevant case studies can help you win business.

Why?  Because they give your potential customer proof that you can do what you say you do.  And a bit like PR, case studies have some of the kudos that comes from a third party endorsement.  After all, you wouldn’t go bandying about a case study without approval from the customer you’re name dropping.  (Would you?)

So we get straight to the nub of the case study issue.  Unless your existing customer is prepared to be named, your case study really isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.  After all, any unscrupulous business could invent a whole host of ‘generic’ and anonymous case studies extolling their virtues. . . but without at least a solid nod to customer reference or endorsement the whole thing falls a bit flat.

For me there’s a clever way to short-circuit such a problem ever arising.  But it takes some marketing savvy and smart planning to execute.  The key is building in an expectation amongst your existing customers that you will want to ‘case study’ or showcase their successes, early on in your relationship.  And the key to making this palatable is to make sure your case studies glorify your client (i.e. have some use and purpose to them - even if it’s only for your key contact to show to his boss come appraisal time to prove how smart he/she has been in finding you and buying from you).

Sure this approach may throw up a few issues if you’re in some kind of turnaround or ‘embarrassing problem curing’ type of business.  Your customer may never want to admit to needing your help.  But in most other cases, writing a shared success story that your customer will be proud enough of to let you share, is a creative challenge just like any other. . . .there’s an angle to be found, you’ve just got to find it!  If you’re a super smart cookie, the way you write the case study may form the bones of a bit of  PR for your existing client as well.  Afterall, a lot of trade publications are on the look out for smart thinking and good new stories. Bingo - you’ve got a win-win with your customer and a credible case study in you bag to impress your prospects!