Ideal Marketing Company Blog

Build credibility

By having articles published in trade magazines, being regularly quoted in articles or interviewed on radio, you can be quickly seen as a leading figure in your area or industry. This is almost impossible to achieve in any way other than by spending time on PR. Handled correctly you can quickly become an ‘expert’ in your own specialist area.

Be remembered for the right reasons

By planning a careful PR campaign, you can make sure that your company is seen to be innovative, thoughtful, caring or whatever else you want it to be. This long term, big picture PR must be based on truth otherwise it will almost certainly backfire, so be careful what claims you make for your business.

Make people ‘seek you out’ rather than feel sold to

In an age when we feel sold to all the time, people like to receive expert opinion. If you are some kind of expert in your specialist area, you can make regular and legitimate comments on ongoing issues. Contributing articles, creating surveys or even producing your own tips booklets or CDs all help to position you as a go-to expert within your field.

Some of the advantages of PR

It helps you to stand out from the crowd. If you are operating in a crowded market, PR can help you build a brand for minimal cost. Much of Virgin’s branding was a result of PR stunts built around Richard Branson. EasyJet also used every trick to pull off PR events and created a very high level of awareness by commenting on government policy, rival airlines and making the most of its flamboyant MD.

PR - Public relations or publicity for your business can be a great way of attracting people to your company, building credibility and generating leads. It can also result in nothing, so remember that whilst PR can generate ‘free’ advertising, it can also take up a great deal of time with nothing to show for it – no coverage and no enquiries. The good news is that there are ways to help beat the odds. Using ideas that have worked successfully for many different clients in many different sectors, today we will cover some popular PR ideas that could work for you.

Any company can use PR, but realistically, some companies are more likely to gain regular, positive PR than other companies at any given time. However, by keeping an eye on industry news, local news or by looking at the best way to develop products or position your business, it is always possible to have some form of ongoing media coverage.

Pleased to say that I’ve been asked to run a marketing seminar at the WalkersStadium this October (October 1st).  I did a talk last year, so it’s nice to asked back. Here are full details of the event

Beating the downturn means turning up your networking.

With the current downturn in the economy and businesses fearing a possible recession, it is more important than ever to be networking with prospects and customers. 

Visibility is the key

 Research has shown that 91 per cent of decision-makers find exhibitions an ‘extremely useful source of purchasing information’. This statistic speaks volumes about the potential opportunities that exhibitions and business conferences can offer. In the wake of the credit crunch, many businesses will be thinking about tightening their belts, re-assessing costs and bottom line expenditure. But cutting back primary tactical activity such as marketing will ultimately be detrimental to a business.

These budgets are often one of the first to be cut during hard times, but are actually key to ensuring a steady pipeline of business leads.  Businesses cannot rely on existing customers alone and must continue to create opportunities to network with prospects face to face and remain visible in front of a target audience. Being visible at trade shows and exhibitions is an excellent way to achieve this. According to Research, 80 per cent of trade shows exhibition visitors are personally involved in buying the products or services on offer. This just shows what a captive audience exhibitions provide and how hot leads really can be generated from having a presence at these kinds of events.

Build long-term relationships

Attending these events also gives visitors the chance to meet new people and build up a network of contacts. With the explosion in social networking sites and online business communities, many organisations are taking to the web in order to conduct their business networking.

However, when it comes to building effective and long-tem business relationships, there is no substitute for meeting people in person and networking face to face. During slower trading periods, meeting prospects is essential.

Conferences, exhibitions and trade shows present an ideal opportunity for networking and meeting new people in your industry sector and new markets. Networking is not just a one way street, either, events provide an excellent platform for selling products and services, they enable businesses to meet potential suppliers and contacts, whether these will save an organisation costs, compared to current partners or just share ideas and information that can help take a new perspective on a company.

There is no doubt that face to face networking is an essential business tool that can also help provide inspiration motivation and ideas to drive business forward.

One step ahead

In today’s ever more competitive marketplace, businesses need to stay ahead of their competitors. Business exhibitions and conferences are an important part of the marketing mix, that shouldn’t be forgotten about, but rather combined with other techniques to make an effective marketing strategy.

Check out the top tips below on how to get the most out of a business show:

Getting the best out of an exhibition

Objectives – work out what you want to achieve at the exhibition and put a plan in place for all actions that need to be completed before the event. This should include all deadlines for getting the stand designed and all information across to the organisers.

Preparation – this is vital if you’re exhibiting at an event. Follow the show guide carefully when you receive it. Don’t forget you will need to let the organisers know about what you need on your stand (e.g. lighting, electricity).

Prepare your messages – make sure you know what your key messages are for the event and what your business wants to communicate to prospects. All messages should be consistent across your stand, company literature and how staff are communicating verbally with prospects.

Stand preparation – produce company literature and any documents that will be handed out on the stand. Also make sure that demonstration products are fully working and ready to be showcased.

Contact customers and prospects in the run up to the show to let them know you’ll be there. 83 per cent of the most successful companies at a range of exhibitions were the ones that mailed their prospects and customers before the show.

Maximise your presence with other marketing techniques. Use direct mail, e-newsletters and PR to raise your profile ahead of the event. Check the event website to find out who the media partners are. These publications will normally run features and articles about the event.  

Know who’s manning the stand – have a rota in place so that there is always someone on the stand and be sure to factor in breaks.

It sounds obvious, but take plenty of business cards. Events are all about networking, so talk to as many people as possible and make sure you give them a business card.

Remember that the event doesn’t end when you’ve left the venue. Make sure that you follow up with all the leads you’ve generated and the people you spoke to. This will ensure that you remain visible with prospects and increases chance of converting your leads into a deal.

Network at the Leicester Business Event on 1^st October at Walkers Stadium.

Visit www.leicesterbusinessevents.co.uk   email info@hi2events.co.uk   or Tel Elaine Vandelli Event Director on 07802 492348

Direct mail summary

Keep it focused. Don’t try to cover too many points in your letter. Focus on one central benefit and perhaps a secondary one. You don’t want to confuse your audience with too many things to think about.

Think like the customer / prospect. Forget about your company as such and think about what you can do to help people and their businesses.

Don’t get bitter, get better. Even following all of these rules, you can’t guarantee that everything will go right every time. And even a great response can probably be bettered. Take time to reflect on what could be done better and how you can improve each aspect to fine tune your letters and generate a more fruitful result next time.

Some other direct mail ideas that work well

Create interest by being topical. By using a headline from a newspaper (quoting the publication and date) you can show just how up to date your product or offer is. It also makes it clear that your message is based on ‘facts’ rather than being made up by you to sell things.

It takes seven meaningful points of contact to make the average sale, yet most people give up on direct mail after one letter. Better to create a list of 100 companies that you REALLY want to work with and mail them regularly than to mail a hundred different companies every week.

As part of your regular mailing campaign, send cuttings (about you or relevant stories) to your contact to show that you understand the industry and how it works. Mixed in with regular direct mail letters, this can be very effective.

Timing is (almost everything). The day your letter arrives has an effect, as does the time of year you send it. Send your letter so that it arrives on a Tuesday. For other matters think about the time of year that people are most likely to reply. For example, when mailing schools, September seems to be the best month.

Stamp rather than frank. It looks less industrial and is almost always more cost effective.

Follow up with e-mail or a phone call. This area is covered later in the series, but a good direct mail letter that is followed up by phone within a week of being sent out will generate a far higher response rate for you.

3D Mailers and novelties can work IF they are very carefully targeted; the more personal or suited to the contact the better. For example, a personalised calendar can work well and even if it is expensive, it can prove to be a good investment in the long term if you bear in mind the lifetime value of a customer.

Qualify your data. It’s a pain, but worth calling people on a mailing list prior to writing to them. Make sure that the name you have is up to date and is the right person to contact otherwise you might as well save your stamp. Writing to somebody who isn’t there anymore or isn’t in a position to buy from you is rarely going to end well.

Test, test and test again. If you think you have a good product and there is a market for it, then direct mail should work for you – it’s just a question of finding the key to unlocking the door, so keep testing out different headlines, offers, lists etc. You’ll find one that works for you in the end – it might just take a few attempts to get it right. Remember that when you are testing, check out one thing at a time.

The format

There are many different ideas about how long a direct mail letter should be. One school of thought says that the more you tell, the more you sell. Whilst I understand this point, I haven’t found it to be true. However, the most effective length and style of direct mail letter I have worked on is no longer than a single sheet of A4.

The mailer is divided into a single page letter, (on headed paper) a response form that can be posted or faxed, plus a further letter or sheet with quotes from satisfied customers. This three part mailer generates a higher response rate than any other and has more words and certainly more substance to it than a single page. Test it out for yourself and see which variation works best for you.

The copy

Which do you find easier to read – Chaucer or The Sun editorial? My guess is that whilst we hate to admit it, The Sun will win out every time. I’m not suggesting that you copy their writing style, but elements of it are admirable. It’s clear what they are about. They use short, punchy sentences. There is little ambiguity over what is meant and you don’t need to re-read any of it because it was clear the first time. At school we are taught to expand our vocabulary and write to impress. With direct mail copy almost the opposite is true. You want to use words that everybody will understand and that people won’t stumble over.

One good way to discover any pitfalls is to read out loud what you have written and see if any bit makes you stumble. If they do, re-write it until the whole letter flows smoothly. Another important aspect is to use sub-headings to break up the text and use a PS at the end of your letter. When it’s all written, look at it without reading the words. Does it look like hard work to read? If it does, see if you can break it up with spaces and breaks.

The headline

You cannot sell to people if you haven’t got their attention. The headline is there solely to catch people’s attention. Newspapers use headlines to communicate what they stand for and the type of stories that you will find inside. The headlines actually sell the papers: once you have bought the paper, each story headline sells each individual story.

If you don’t have a clear benefit driven headline at the start of your letter you can wave goodbye to about half of your readers, so spend time getting it right. It has to appeal to your perfect customer so think up a series of headlines that sum up what the letter is about. Create at least 10, but you may write as many as 100 before you find one that perfectly sums up what you want to say.

The offer

What do you want to say? Why are you contacting these people in the first place? You should always have a reason for writing to people. Is it something new that they can have? Is it a special offer or a reduced price, a new item in stock for a limited time? Whatever it is, the offer is probably the most important area. If you get the offer right then you are off to the best start.

Make your offer as eye catching and imaginative possible. Make it time sensitive and difficult to say no to. Make it believable and above all make it easy to understand. To assess this, show your letter to a stranger: they should be able to say what you are telling them about in about 5 records if you are to have a chance of winning over people with your direct mail letter.