Category Archives: Branding

Jul 16
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ow to attract your perfect client

Attract your perfect client

By | Branding, Marketing Strategy | No Comments

Do You Struggle to Attract Your Perfect Client?

 Have you ever worked with a dream client? One who you makes you think ‘I wish all of my clients were like you’. Well guess what? Not every client is of equal stature; some are painfully difficult to work with. Sometimes communication is non-existent/you spend days chasing them for important information, other times they just ‘don’t get it’ and on some occasions they’re just rude and obnoxious.

We all want to work with friendly, open minded people wherever possible, so how can you increase your chances of finding the perfect client and securing that all important sale or contract?

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Forming long lasting, healthy business relationships in order to promote growth and prosperity is, ultimately, at the heart of every business. In order to gain the ‘perfect’ client time and time again, you need to understand what your business stands for. Once you’re clear about this, you will be able to attract the customers who are aligned with your brand’s ethos.

OK, let’s make this even simpler:

You need to reach out and let your brand’s beliefs, values and character shine through like a bright beacon, just as you would when making new friends.

Getting this right will equip you with the tools to attract the perfect client because they’ll be attracted to you too, after all, you both share the same beliefs and values – simple!

Strong character grabs attention

It’s important to gain authority within your sector; character and authority go hand in hand. You can promote a strong character by sticking to your belief and values. You’ll need to have integrity too – never falter on your values. This might all sound rather easy, but it does take time and dedication to build an unfalteringly good reputation. The results, however, will be worth tenfold.

Putting it into action

Firstly, review your business. What are its core beliefs and values? From here you can start to build the persona of your ideal client and understand who they are and what the best way to communicate with them is.

Ask yourself what tone your perfect client would be drawn to; loose and friendly or formal and professional? Think about the places they are likely to ‘hang out’; this could be Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn or Pinterest, for example. This will also tell you about the formats in which to produce your marketing content, i.e. blogs, articles, videos, photos, infographics etc.

Equipped with your strengthened set of beliefs and core values, you’ll be able to portray your personality across all of the marketing you produce and you’ll attract the perfect clients.

The missing piece of the jigsaw

Don’t worry if this all sounds a little daunting because we run brand review days for clients of all sizes with the aim of taking the stress away from analysing something so close to you. Oftentimes it becomes all too much to evaluate how your own business portrays itself.

Once your brand has been revised we can then build your Audience Personas. This includes researching photos of your perfect client and working through your biggest ‘pain point’ in order to work out the best way to communicate with them.

Equipped with the knowledge required to effectively connect with your perfect client, we can build a successful marketing campaign packed full of carefully created content in order to generate those all-important online conversations, which lead to positive sales.

For more information on attracting the perfect client, building successful marketing campaigns, plus much, much more, sign up to our newsletter at the bottom of our page, or give us a call on 01480 459087.

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!
Jan 21
0

Memory Palaces – every marketers target!

By | Branding, Direct Marketing, Email Marketing, Exhibitions, Food for thought, Marketing Strategy, Public Relations, Social Media | No Comments

I don’t know about you, but I loved the latest series of Shelock from the BBC and was disappointed that is finished last week. The last episode with Sherlock going head to head quite literally against Charles Augustus Magnussen; memory palace to memory palace! It was a fantastic episode with many twists and turns so no wonder there is still such a buzz about it.

The memory palace has been playing on my mind this last week (no pun intended) – how powerful it is, and how as marketers we are trying to tap into the memory palace to influence both consumers and customers with strong logos, branding and corporate images. Using different tactics and ensuring each tactic has a consistent image and message to make sure that we are locked into the memory palace of our customers so we don’t get kicked aside by our competitors.

This has led me to think about the retail environment, how 70% of purchasing decisions are made in front of the fixture and that you have 3 seconds to influence the consumers mind to choose your product over your competitors. This is where the power of the memory palace really comes into play. It’s vital that your product / brand has been securely locked in before they even reach the store.

Knowing your customers

This links back to my blog last week, about knowing your customers, where they go and what they read. This enables you to ensure that all “touch points” that your customer goes through in their every day life has your product or brand there. If your marketing budget can not stretch to TV advertising, then think about page advertising, money off coupons or even advertise on the social media sites they visit. Do they fill their car with fuel at a local garage? Try sponsoring the fuel pumps with your logo. If their son or daughter play’s football or rugby for the local town team, have a advertising board there.

Knowing this level of detail of your customers takes time and commitment so don’t expect it to happen over night. If you consider that Coca-Cola have been in the market for 128 years, no wonder they are securely lodged in all our minds! The one thing they have done very successfully is made sure that the brand has remained the same and consistent over the years. They have even managed to become a tradition at Christmas, many of my friends saying “it’s not Christmas until I see the Coke Lorry advert” – Well done Coca-cola!!! The other thing they have managed successfully are any changes to the brand; they made changes as a evolution otn a revolution so consumers and customers do not have to replace the images in their memory palace.

I know what your thinking – Well that’s great Laura, but I can’t wait 128 years! That’s true for all of us, but let me ask you this…… Do you know how many more customers you need to remember your product in order for you to add an additional 10%, 15%, 20% to your profit or market share? You will be surprised at the difference that some small consistent messages or small changes to your marketing can make year on your to your business.

After all, you don’t want to end up coming back like Moriarty asking your customers – Did you miss me???

Sharing is caring…

Please don’t forget to share my blog with your friends and family, or share through the various social media links. I would love to hear your thoughts on my post, what are your thoughts on the memory palace? Do you think integrated marketing still has a place in this digital marketing age we are in?

I look forward to receiving your comments.
Laura