Marketing for a new business can be very daunting and it is sometimes difficult to know where to start with so many options available.  The most important thing to consider is your budget, so that you don’t overspend precious resources, and, in most cases, it is key to consider what marketing you can also undertake without spending much at all!

After that the first step is planning, and this is often overlooked with the urgency to try to promote your business and make profit, however writing a marketing plan will save both time and money in the long run.

Start by identifying the key strengths of your new business; what products or services do you offer and how do you differ from your competitors?  A competitor analysis here is good if you can, but most importantly you need to pinpoint what could make you stand out from the crowd.

Next, think about your ideal target audience, who are they and which marketing channels might be most appropriate to engage with them? Again, it is hard to market to everyone at once so funnel this down so that it becomes manageable.

Visibility is critical – you need to ensure that your new business can be found online.  Most consumers will start their search for a product online so ensuring that your ideal customers can find you is vital.  A well thought and easy to navigate website is imperative and search engine optimisation techniques will help your website to be found online. There are plenty of online resources to help you here and Google Digital Garage is a great place to start!   Setting up a Google Business Profile will also pay dividends, as this will help with both search optimisation and is a place where customers can leave reviews to pique the interest of others.

When considering social media, be very strict with yourself and only plan to post on the channels that your target audience prefers.  You may like Instagram but potentially your audience might be on LinkedIn so consider your options carefully and choose one or two channels to start with.  There are loads of free tools on the marketplace to help you write content, design imagery and schedule your posts.

Writing blog posts and articles, creating email campaigns, speaking at local events, networking, and attending exhibitions are all ways you could also investigate to build your brand awareness. Consistency is key and seeing results may take a little time so don’t give up!

Overall ensure that you track your performance and use this key information to help you plan future campaigns; again there are so many great free tools available online to do this.

Marketing doesn’t have to be scary – it can be great fun and is a powerful way to move your business forwards.

I ran a workshop this morning on budgeting for marketing, an interesting subject as a marketing budget is often the first thing to be cut in times of hardship or recession.  But how should you budget and more’s the point how does your business ‘find’ budget for marketing when times are tough or you are just starting out?

First and foremost, ensure that you conduct some market research.  It is so much more cost effective to go into your marketplace prepared, with a good understanding of your target audience, and how you might differentiate yourself from your competition.

Next set some very clear goals, using the acronym SMART is useful as these will help you to be laser focussed on what you would like to achieve, and from here you can begin to develop your marketing campaigns.

When you are ready, consider what resources are available to you internally. Using the 5M’s might help here. The 5M’s is a marketing model that can be used to assess five different internal elements; the Manpower that you have, the Materials and Machinery that you might require, the Minutes (time) required and the Money available.  Once analysed, the 5M’s can show whether you have the internal capability to achieve your plan or whether improvements or additional resources are required.

Once you are more aware of the resources that are available to you then deciding on the most effective channels may become clearer. These will largely depend on the audience that you are trying to reach and of course your timescales, however, using organic social media and emails might be a good option if your organisation has staff and time available but is low on available finance, or alternatively perhaps you may consider outsourcing if you are time poor but have a little more available spend.

Calculating the expected return on your investment i.e., what you intend to gain from the campaign in terms of profit, is a good place to start.  If your campaign is set to increase your customer base and therefore your profits, then allocating a percentage of this proposed profit is often a useful and solid technique.  Alternatively, you could look at what similar campaigns have cost in the past, and what they generated, and take a view based on these.  This is helpful as this may give you confidence to make that initial spend if you are cautious.

Another budgeting method to consider might also be to look at your competitors and their spend.  If you are competing on a regular basis, can you afford not to be in the same advertising space as them and if not, how much do you need to be able to match their advertising?  This strategy is not for the faint hearted but knowing your competitors and their actions is often brilliant research too!

Within your budget you will need to ensure that you have enough money to be able to reach your target audience and produce conversions that will deliver your expected return on your investment.  Without a budget in place, you might be swayed or tempted to spend more than necessary, and your ROI might falter.

And finally, tracking your campaign is the most important element to consider. There are many excellent software packages available but whatever why you choose, simply ensuring that you track results is vital as it will allow you to increase or amend your campaigns if the results are not generating your expected ROI.

Allocating a marketing budget as a small business owner is often a daunting prospect but with good research, thought and management there is no reason why you cannot succeed.

What is Sustainable Marketing?

Sustainable Marketing is communicating your commitment to sustainability to your customers, your suppliers, your employees and to those in your community.

Addressing your environmental, social, and governance (ESG) objectives are key in today’s business world and will add value to your business.  Ensuring your marketing supports and communicates these values is vital.

Marketing is very much part of your entire business, it should never be seen as a standalone function because Marketing is the conduit between your customer and your business; it should champion your customer; have a hand in new product development, shape services, raise brand awareness, create goodwill, secure new customers, and ultimately drive profit, so spanning every area of your business.

Sustainable marketing works because it promotes the core ESG values that your business has decided to adopt, be those environmental issues; reducing waste and water; social values; advocating a healthy work/life balance and supporting your local community or governance plans.

Good communication of your company’s commitment will help your business stand out and will earn the loyalty of your customers, which creates a competitive advantage.

Studies show that consumers are more likely to purchase a locally sourced product and prefer to work with businesses that are environmentally conscious. So, there are many approaches your business could take to becoming more sustainable, such as sourcing environmentally conscious packaging, adopting more efficient recycling, assisting employees with options for green travel or donating to sustainable causes.

However, never underestimate the commitment needed to support your initiatives.  Sustainable marketing simply won’t work if your marketing is based on buzz words or hot topics – the ethos must come from a deep foundation within to want to change the way in which you work and improve the prospects for future generations.

When you are considering adopting a sustainable marketing strategy consider creating an overall sustainable vision that can run through the heart of your business. Look for areas of improvement, think ahead and build long term value for your customers which reduce environmental impact; and plan consistent objectives to create communications that show your customers how working with you contributes to a broader goal.

Once you consider the wider impact of your actions, incorporate a sustainable ethic into your business and engage in sustainable marketing you could see a new, really great way forward for your company – and for the planet!

Really good to be back in a classroom today, training for Worthing & Adur Chamber of Commerce on what makes a good elevator pitch – lovely group of business owners, lots of fun and hopefully so great pitches created! 😀

Recover & Rise is a fantastic programme of webinars delivered by West Sussex County Council which I am proud to be hosting for Freedom Works.

The weekly webinars include topics such as creating and developing websites, e/commerce, the visitor economy and cyber security.

Places are FREE and there is support from the Coast to Capital Digital Champions alongside this project.

To book see https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/west-sussex-recover-amp-rise-2021-34080963385

Having delivered many training courses lately around Marketing, both for start-ups and existing, larger businesses I am keen to see what local businesses have found most effective in the current marketplace.

Google has done some fantastic research around the way consumers have been purchasing online over the last 6/9 months and in a recent report cited that consumers demands have obviously changed in response to the pandemic in both the way that consumers purchase and what they expect from businesses.

According to these Google reports the following trends have emerged; Consumers are forcing businesses to innovate, in that businesses need to adapt and be more flexible to satisfy their changing customer’s needs,  and secondly that there is a heightened need for live information, an immediate response and faster delivery times.

Now as a marketer my overriding response would be that yes as business owners we always need to be ready to adapt and respond to changing situations, but how do we respond to a changing landscape without losing sight of our visions and values, and when we are clinging on in very challenging times ?

Firstly, our business vision, the one thing that keeps us true can be a guiding light in these difficult times.  Remembering why you started out, or took on the role, can help support your work in many ways and just because we need to be flexible, we don’t need to lose this vision.  Secondly, we must look to our customers for their views, and see how they need us to adapt.  Do they need a change in products or services, or a change in the way we communicate?  Knowing your target audience is key, and for those who’ve attended my workshops, you will know my love of creating customer personas! But on a serious note, by knowing our target audience and appreciating not only why they buy, but how they buy, i.e. their customer journey, will put us in a good place for success.

Thirdly, its all about their experience when trying to shop or work with you.  Does your website give good information, can they immediately find what they are looking for, does your social connect with them, and can they see the reasons that they might want to work with you? And then last but never least, evaluations.  With so many free digital platforms on offer these days, we really have no excuse now to be able to measure the effectiveness of our campaigns and see how we need to adapt them and potentially work harder in future.

So, what’s worked for you? How has your business adapted to meet customers needs, wouldn’t it be great to share some more success stories?

Brave words don’t you think, especially in the current climate.  However, if we stop a moment and think about all the positives and successful business stories of the past few months, it’s actually a lovely testament to how many businesses have kept strong and even flourished in what has been and continues to be a very uncertain time.

Personally, I’m very grateful and proud to have come through these times wiser and stronger, like many I worked hard to adapt, be flexible and try new markets and new ways to work. It wasn’t always easy and there were times when there were tears and frustrations, but it has also allowed me to grow, learn and challenge myself.  Now I’m not suggesting for one moment that it was possible for all, and I know that COVID-19 has caused a great deal of trauma and suffering, but as we start to poke our noses out once more, I feel it’s really important to think about the good and what we have all potentially gained and achieved.

It seems that the business community has become even more supportive over the past few months and whilst we hear of mass redundancies and job losses, we also meet new entrepreneurs and those who given the set of circumstances they found themselves in, are now able to readjust their work/life balance for the better.

From a marketing perspective, the landscape is exploding, with more consumers buying into digital than ever before and the online world becoming our every day go to.  So, if you are keen to continue to grow or put yourself back on the map here are just a few areas that I could help with:

1. Write a new marketing plan! Doesn’t have to be big or extensive, but having a plan will keep you focused and on track with what you believe in and help to you to make the decisions that are right for your business.
2. Reassess your target audience .. Are they still who you think they are? Perhaps re-evaluate them by drawing up a customer persona so that your messages hit the right spot for the right people.
3. Define your value proposition – what makes your business tick and how does this set you apart from your competitors? How can you tell your brand story?
4. Write good copy .. the marketplace is overloaded and hectic. Your messages, whichever channel you choose, need to be targeted, optimised and relevant
5. Learn something new! New skills are great confidence boosters and an online bespoke training session might be just the thing.

Keen to find out more? Let’s chat and see how we can move forwards, together 😊

I was very proud to receive my Chartered Marketer status yesterday from the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM),  and for anyone who takes the time to study or hone their skills, they will know how tough this can be at times but also how much pleasure these accomplishments bring, however big or small.

However, it did get me thinking about my marketing career to date (and yes it’s very long which makes me feel very old!) and the key things that have been pivotal across the years – those key points that despite everything else remain constant in an ever changing industry.

You could argue I suppose, that knowing which marketing frameworks to use for success might be pivotal, or that years of experience are really what matters, or that for a consultant return on investment for their client is the driving force, and yes these absolutely are but there are definitely fundamentals that lie even deeper than these.

I believe simplicity is the first, and that knowing your target audience is the second.  Working together in perfect harmony preferably!

Watching TV with my son the other evening, I couldn’t help but notice the rise in the urgency of advertising now that we are slowly emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic.  And, with this rise comes an explosion of noise across all our media platforms, because let’s face it everyone needs their slice of business.

Simplicity therefore wins.  Cutting through the noise and ensuring your audience know exactly what you can offer and exactly what that can do for them.    If they don’t understand what you do, or understand how it can help them, then it’s time to re-evaluate your messaging to improve your success.

And, on that note, ensure that you really know your target audience.  Take time to research them and make sure that you are advertising on a platform that is suitable for them, so that they can both easily ‘hear’ you amongst the noise and more importantly find you!  Customer experience is key and without knowing your audience how can you ensure that you exceed their expectations?

Two very simple things, but two that are so easily forgotten, and with the economy the way it is, it could so easily be the simple things that make the most difference!

Happy Marketing!

Having been involved with the Worthing and Adur Chamber Better Business Show since its beginning, I’m delighted this year to be both hosting the pre-show Power Hour Networking and to also be one of the many exhibitors.

Come and say hello to me on stand S18, located just past registration on the entrance to the large hall, and enter in my Business Card Draw to WIN a FREE place at one of my forthcoming workshops, (the worst that will happen is that you’ll get a chocolate for your trouble and perhaps an email from me to say hello again in future!)  you may well be my lucky winner!

I’m also offering a 20% show discount on all workshops booked for a week after the show, please quote BBShow2020 when booking.

So, let’s hope this is the biggest and best Worthing expo yet and I look forward to seeing everyone ..

Business Card Draw Terms and Conditions

One winner will be drawn at random and offered a complimentary place at a forthcoming workshop of their choice to be held in Worthing.  There is not a cash alternative.  Should the workshop not go ahead for circumstances beyond my control then a consultancy session will be offered instead.  All entrants accept that their details will be held for future promotional purposes by Tipton Marketing but they can unsubscribe from this at their convenience at any point.