May 07
0
Customer Profiling - Transform your thinking

Customer profiling increases sales

By | Food for thought, Marketing Strategy | No Comments

Customer profiling may be a new term to you or you may have been utilising it for years, but either way, it is a powerful tool that many of us aren’t taking full advantage of. Customer profiling can increase sales, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty – all from changing your way of thinking when it comes to marketing! Sounds good, doesn’t it?

These days it can feel as though we are being bombarded with products, services and messages from companies across the globe on a daily basis. The things is, it’s far too easy for your business to get lost in all the ‘noise’ – this is where customer profiling can help you directly access the individuals that would actually be interested in your product or service, making you stand out from the crowd. It works by understanding who your customers are (both existing and potential), what they like and dislike, what they aspire to and what their spending habits are. The likelihood is that you may have various different customer profiles and that’s great! It means that you can direct your products or services to your audience in different ways and access a wider market.

Think of it this way; weedkiller isn’t exactly a ‘sexy’ product or one that you would often think of buying in your day-to-day life. A sunny, landscaped, weed free garden complete with BBQ and a glass of wine however, now that crosses a lot of people’s minds, especially on a wet Monday morning in a dreary office full of sniffling people! By tapping into how people think, what they aspire to and their habits you can successfully target your marketing campaign to offer the promise of a dream lifestyle, regardless of the reality. You may have already noticed that food producers picture slim people enjoying their indulgent treats, car companies picture their cars driving along sweeping alpine roads and Mediterranean coastlines and dating websites picture happy couples, madly in love on their way to the most romantic destinations this world has to offer.

Target your customers

Target your customers

Regardless of your sector, product, service, current customer base or target audience, customer profiling is a highly effective way of increasing turnover and reducing marketing costs by targeting your advertising to an audience that will listen, in a manner that will inspire them to buy from you and not your competitors. 

What’s more, you can use this information to engage with your customers through social media in a way that appeals to them; whether that be competitions, free trials or just a good old natter! Successfully using customer profiling is a valuable tool that everyone should take advantage of in their business, it’s just that good! Here at Jigsaw Communications we can tailor marketing campaigns from conception right through to final customer interaction, both before and after purchasing, to ensure you really are making the most of your available resources and gaining and maintaining happy, loyal customers – ultimately the goal of any business! If we’ve whet your appetite and you want to know more, give us a call or drop us an email for a friendly, informal chat.

Feb 25
0

Content marketing increases leads

By | Digital Marketing, Social Media | No Comments

How Content Marketing can generate sale leads

As a business owner, you’ll probably know that the internet is a loud place. It’s a market place full of the hustle and bustle of buyers and sellers. Sellers are vying for the attention of buyers who know exactly what they want but don’t know which to choose from the thousands of services and products just like yours, and the buyers themselves are trying to make sense of all the promises and oodles of information to ensure they make the correct purchase.

But how can you ensure your business and your products stand out from the crowds? The goal is to get people to know, like, and trust your brand. To do this, your content must be interesting and engaging and should aim to create a common interest between you and your followers.

The concept is pretty easy – you create content and then market it. In layman’s terms, you write a blog article relevant to your business, publish it and then share it through social channels such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+ in order to acquire and retain an audience. The tricky part is coming up with a killer strategy and sticking to it, religiously and consistently.

Content Marketing

Content Marketing is a fundamental part of your digital marketing plan

But first, the content you create needs to be valuable and relevant in order to attract the attention of your target audience. Interesting and engaging content will drive traffic and strengthen the relationship between you and your audience. The type of content you write and where you market it is all part of your online strategy.

A punchy, informative and concise article or blog post has the capacity to attract and convert your audience into buyers and buyers into loyal customers and followers. By creating and sharing content you are essentially creating a portal into your business – a snapshot of what your business is about and what it does/provides. This engagement is vital in building a trustworthy and likeable business, which is what generates sales leads.

So, you’ve created your content, shared it across your social media channels and now what? Create new content, repeat. Old and repetitive information that you’ve already shared will not engage your followers because they are doing just that – following you. This means they’re looking for new and fresh content, something they’ve not read before from you. You really don’t want to be known as the business that nags and repeats the same old boring stuff every week because this will result in disengagement, a low reach and poor visibility; eventually people will unfollow you, meaning your hard efforts will be worthless. You need to market new content regularly, preferably daily.

Yes, content marketing is an ongoing and regular activity that needs updating, but it’s necessary to bring in and hold onto potential customers and ultimately generate sales. Good content will not only get people talking and sharing, which does wonders for word-of-mouth exposure, but your business will have a greater chance of ranking well in Google search results, perfect to help people find your business amidst the crowds of the ever-growing internet!

This may all sound very time consuming and might leave you thinking ‘all very well if I had an extra ‘x’ hours in the day’. If this is the case, you’ll find our articles on outsourcing very beneficial and you could shave hours off your ‘to-do’ list in no time at all!

Jan 29
0

Media Tim’s Social Media training – Module 1

By | Social Media, Training, Uncategorized | No Comments

I attended Media Tim’s Social Media training on Tuesday 20th January, and I have to say what a pleasure it was to attend.

The course was relaxed and yet really informative. Like most marketers I know the benefits of Social Media for businesses, but for my own business the biggest problem I have is planning what to say and when to say. The first module that Tim takes you through makes you focus upon your customer, how they think and the problems that they have that you can help them address.

Once you have managed to get your head around this, he then helps you to understand the best way to write your content on your blog and which social media platforms are best to use ensuring you use the right tone for each platform!

I’m really looking forward to attending his next module on LinkedIn next Tuesday (3rd February) at Maximo Learn in Bedford. Although  I still need to do my homework!!! I will report back on the next weeks module!

Don’t forget if you want to attend the training with me, click on the links!

For more information on Tim’s course check out the below links:

https://plus.google.com/109186133077205496771/posts/LukS41jw2gH

Book on the course: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/tim-brown-6667086187

Jan 15
1
Social Media Day-1-Module-1

Social Media Training

By | Food for thought, Social Media, Training | No Comments

I’m really looking forward to attending Media Tim’s Social Media training at Maximo Learn (www.maximolearn.com) on next Tuesday – the 20th of January in Bedford.

Like everyone I try to keep on top with my social media, sending out tweets on news and promoting the business and trying to start those all-important conversations with clients and suppliers. The one thing I’m looking forward to the most is getting a Social Media strategy in place and a plan of what I’m going to send out and when. I’m hoping that it should keep me focused and target those clients and industries that I would love to work with.

Tim looks at all social media platforms, Google+, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and how all of these together can help you promote your business. If you are interested in putting together a social media plan for 2015 for your business, why not check out Tim’s courses. They run in Wellingborough and Northampton as well.

For more information on Tim’s course check out the below links:

https://plus.google.com/109186133077205496771/posts/LukS41jw2gH

Book on the course: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/tim-brown-6667086187

I will post next week and let you know how I get on. – Laura

Oct 21
0

Marketing plans for 2015!

By | Marketing Planning | No Comments

It’s a scary time of year, when you start planning 2015, looking at how you want things to pan out of the business. So I thought we would start looking at the predicted marketing trends for 2015 and which strategies should be implemented into your marketing plans for 2015.

We all know that digital marketing is on the increase; however, a recent report by Accenture based on a survey of more than 580 senior marketers globally, found that more than a third believe that digital will account for 75% of their marketing budgets by 2019, while 35% say mobile will account for more than 50%!

Lets have a look at the insight into the digital trend and see what lessons we can learn…

Lesson 1 – Relax the brand controls

The consumption of digital media is on the increase and with this is the amount of content created by customers who love what brands have to offer, and sometimes negative feedback will be included. Embracing this the collaboration with customers can also increase co-creation of new products.

Lesson 2 – Humanise the brand

We talked about this is last months edition of Marketing Magic and according to research by Lippincott “Brands that behave like humans find more favour with customers”. Consumers now buy a lifestyle, and through making your brand more human you are becoming more transparent and moving away from customer cynicism.

Lesson 3 – Maximise converged content

It is believed that content marketing will be taken to the next level promoting it through paid-for social media strategy. Social Media won’t be the only determining factor in this evolution; mobile, smart TV’s and understanding coding will also play a part.

Lesson 4 – Get ahead of technology

With the introduction of Google Glass, Samsung’s Galaxy Gear smart watch and the new Apple iWatch that is coming out in 2015 – media consumption are changing rapidly. The level of consumer uptake or marketing applications is currently not clear, but what is clear is that you can’t be behind the times in your innovations or strategies to reach your customers.

Lesson 5 – Take more risks

Without risk there is no gain! Being versatile and reactive to any brand can be scary but sometimes it’s the big decisions that pay off. Don’t be afraid to look at what is news topical or current and put an opinion out there as long as you can react and rectify any negativity it is one way to raise awareness of your brand.

 Brands becoming more reactive can capitalise on 58 million consumer tweets a day, according to Social Media Examiner.

Lesson 6 – Stay ahead of gen Z

Keeping ahead of the next generation is never easy especially now when they are less patient and more difficult to impress. Therefore reaching them requires excellent content on the right media and the right time.

Twitter has changed the way media is consumed, from breaking news to viral content; the tech savvy younger generation no longer see the need for email, all they need is text and social media according to Marketing Week’s Secret Marketer.

Lesson 7 – Merge data with creativity

At its best data and creativity combine and result in the best program possible. Data has been captured for years; marketers saw the introduction of Tesco Club Card combine creative personalised marketing with data. With advancements in technology you can now monitor who is visiting your website which content they are interested in and how long they were there. Thus giving sales teams and marketers the data required personalised marketing and sales messages to convert into a sale.

 

Sep 17
0

How to write a Marketing Strategy

By | Branding, Food for thought, Marketing Strategy | No Comments

Align your marketing strategy with your business strategy

Traditionally business and marketing strategies were seen as separate documents with some common features such as business goals and values. The business plan was organised around what products and services a company could offer its customers.

The strategic question that should drive business today is “What else can we do for our customers?” not “what else can we offer or make?” This shift at the centre of gravity demands a rethink of all strategy pillars within the business and especially how marketing plays a role.

Who are your customers? What are their needs and desires? Companies where everyone has a clear understanding of their customers always perform better and act in a more joined up way. It’s vital that marketing personal look at other departments and try to see how they can complement them.

Whether you are a sole trader, medium sized business or a larger organisation, it’s important that marketing is seen as an integral part of the team. If you are thinking strategic, you need to ensure that you have marketing represented in the meeting or the thought process.

So why is cross company like a rugby scrum? Unless you all push in the same direction to deliver what your customer wants, you will never win against your competition!

Here are some Dos and Don’ts to think about along the way:

  • Do identify the vocabulary used by different departments and ensure you are speaking the appropriate language.
  • Do work closely with the sales department – marketing is a service provision to the business it needs to help sales! Get them involved from the start and work as a team; and remember they are at the front line – they can get you vital market knowledge!
  • Do have ROI that you report back to the business so marketing is seen as an investment not as a expense.
  • Do be straight talking – don’t fall in the trap of being fluffy
  • Don’t forget – You can’t have a strong brand if you don’t have a strong business!
Jul 18
0

Social media for businesses

By | Social Media | No Comments

Social Media is vital for all businesses

Social Media Networking has become vital to everyday business. Ignoring social media is like ignoring your customers. A common misconception regarding social media networking is that it’s about marketing on social media platforms, it is so much more than that and if executed correctly can be one of the most powerful tools in marketing.

“Content marketing is a commitment, not a campaign.”

Jon Buscall, Award-Winning Podcaster and Head of Stockholm-based digital agency specializing in content creation, online marketing & communications

Social media and digital marketing work hand in hand, and its important to understand that social media networking is a marathon and not a sprint. Creating something interesting and publishing it on the Internet will earn you the attention you are after.

One of the most important things to remember with social media networking is that it is interactive. It’s not just about updating your social media on your planned schedule but also answering questions, holding conversations and thanking people for following or retweeting. Social media networking is a constant stream of two-way communication between you and the rest of the social media networking community.

Here at Jigsaw, we understand that these things take time; and time is something that our clients do not have much of. That’s why we offer three different social media networking packages so that you can get exactly the right amount of support you need from getting you going, through to building your social media networking reputation. Whatever the reasons you need support with your social media networking, our cost effective, pay monthly packages will take away your headaches and make sure you gain the reputation that you deserve.

We will work with you to ensure that the right social media networking sites are used for your business; we will create banners and profile graphics that reflect your business, branding and messages that you want to get across.
The content management we offer isn’t about posting information 50 times a day, but it’s about content that will work for you, that has a purpose and people want to read and engage with it. The content is all about the sharing and interacting with your customers and this is how social media networking can take your online presence to the next level.

As part of our standard package we will constantly review your social media networking that we carry out for you. Reports will be carried out on a weekly basis so we can be as effective as we can be; revisions are put in place but only with our clients sign offs.

Jun 06
0

How important is a website in your marketing strategy?

By | Marketing Strategy, Websites | No Comments

Yes it really is!!!

In this age of web connectivity, an active online presence is as paramount to the success of your company and the management of your brand as any offline marketing campaign.

Not only that, but not having a website will simply hinder the growth of your business. Whether you operate in a B2B environment or sell consumer goods or service, the buying process often starts online, with a search for information followed by a purchase, and companies who don’t have an online presence are running the risk of being passed over.

An opportunity for low-cost customer and stakeholder engagement; exposure to a wider audience; a source of information: a business website will give you a platform from which to reach the world. Flexible, it can be changed promptly to reflect your latest products, services, and special offers, and in conjunction with an integrated online marketing strategy, will compound and complement traditional marketing methods.

We offer high-quality, bespoke yet affordable business websites tailored specifically to your needs and your budget.

With more than half of web searches being conducted from mobile devices, the need for companies to have a dedicated mobile business website is more relevant than ever, and we take pride in designing websites which will allow your customers to complete their transaction easily wherever they are.

May 04
0

PR is for life not just for Christmas

By | Marketing Strategy, Public Relations | No Comments

“Everything you do or say is public relations.” – Unknown

Reputation is what Public Relations is all about. It’s the result of what you do, what you say, and what others say about you. PR is used to gain trust from your employees, customers, investors and the public. As we all know reputations take a long time to build up and can be damaged in a flash! With the Public Relations landscape changing with the constant developments in digital marketing, its important to always have PR as part of your marketing plans. PR is for the life of your business not just for Christmas!

Public Relations can be used in various forms such as online viral campaigns, sponsorship and media relations. We understand that like social media; PR isn’t always about short terms fixes, it can be longer-term strategies such as brand building and working with communities. Public Relations can play an essential role to any business from creating high value products or services and protecting business in times of crisis.

We have the knowledge and understanding to help businesses benefit from public relations. We can help your business use Public Relations appropriately to gain trust and respect from your employees, local community, investors and more importantly your customers!.

We will work with you to produce PR programme that works alongside your other marketing communication plans. We will produce a PR plan that will maximize the coverage for your company on an ongoing basis. We will also ensure that your PR programme is fully integrated into digital marketing and social media as well as other conventional PR methods.