Total Marketing Solutions

It’s been a while in the making but we are now ready to launch our new website. It’s taken us quite a while to get this far, lots of blood, sweat and tears – but we’re sure it will all be worthwhile now we’re live. To find out what all the fuss is about please visit the site and take a look around:- www.totalmarketingsolutions.co.uk

So how have we gone about it? We’ve literally followed our own advice – the advice we give our customers if a new website is one of the strategic recommendations we make following our usual rigorous review and audit of their business.

Step one, obvious though it seems, was to identify our business objectives for the site. It’s surprising how many companies decide they need a website “because everyone else has one”, without thinking about what they want it to do for them. Your objective might be to increase new customer account registration, it might be to increase the number of sales leads or enquiries generated. Whatever your objective/s, you can use your web analytics to measure any improvements and then tweak your website further if required. As strategic marketing consultants, our objective for our new website was to primarily increase the number of quality leads generated – we needed to make sure we clearly communicated how we work, with the emphasis on strategy development.

The next stage is to look at how customers will use the site and how their experience can be improved. Again, web analytics plays an important role here. You can look for potential problem areas like drop-offs and take steps to solve them. We found that whilst we had a significant number of visitors to our existing site, this didn’t translate into the number of enquiries we would expect. And a large number of enquiries were from companies looking for an advertising agency – our message was not as clear as it should have been. We want our new website to scream “marketing strategy development” from every page, whilst leaving potential customers looking for strategic help convinced we are the right company for them to do business with.

The final – and perhaps the most challenging  - stage, is to go through each page with a fine toothcomb, ensuring each one works as best as it can for you. We’ve taken a close look at each one of our existing pages, re-written or tweaked it, added new pages and content – it’s still a work in progress and the good thing about websites is that they are never cast in stone and are always a work in progress.  So what have we been looking at on each of our pages?

• We’ve stepped up the optimisation of the site, making sure all copy, titles and labels are able to improve our natural search results.
• We’ve also removed content that just wasn’t getting visited and focussed on improving the content on the key pages, making it easier for visitors to the site to get the information they need quickly.
• We’ve also used our web analytics to make sure we cover as many search terms as possible to avoid any “No results” keyword searches – so if you type in “marketing consultants”, you’ll find TMS at the top of the page. You’ll also find us under “marketing strategy consultants,” “marketing consultancy,” etc – you get the point! Don’t just think of the one search – try to think of as many different permutations of what you do and use web analytics to identify the main ones. Then build them into your site.
• We’ve also taken time to improve our home page – making sure we communicate our core messages quickly, whilst making it easier for visitors to find out the information they need in order to progress to an enquiry.
• We’ve also reduced the number of steps visitors have to take from our home page to begin key processes, like looking at case studies, finding our what we do and – of course – making an enquiry.
• We also hope that, having tweaked the layout, design and colours used on each page, this will improve click-thru rates and encourage visitors to visit more pages – in other words, to really get to know us and ultimately, gain a greater understanding of how we can help them.

Time will tell of course and rest assured that, as with any new website, we shall be monitoring our web analytics very closely after launch to see just how our new website is working for us.

With the onslaught of increasing noise over social media, the integrated marketing model has reared it’s head again. It keeps cropping up in marketing blogs and articles, but just what does it all mean??? One marketing blogger who has his finger on the pulse is John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing.

Like many other marketing professionals, John has noticed that marketing folks are now using “integrated marketing” to describe their ability to integrate traditional offline marketing with the new sexy social media. In our opinion, as marketing consultants, Integrated marketing is in fact the combination of marketing tactics to help deliver one marketing strategy to more quickly build know, like and trust amongst your customers.

In this sense then an integrated marketing approach is not a strategy, it’s the tactical delivery of a marketing strategy. That distinction is critical, because without the right strategy no amount of talk about integrating multiple platforms and mediums makes much sense. In fact, in many instances integration is simply interpreted as doing more kinds of stuff. The problem with more stuff is that stuff without a central strategy can actually cause one stuff to combat and conflict with some other stuff. The key is to strategically integrate – not just head off in various off- and on-line directions.

To find out more about what John has to say on this matter, go to his blog here.

The Holy Grail of how to accurately assess your Return on Investment for any marketing activities you choose to undertake has always been the sticking point for many marketers trying to justify spending their marketing budget. It’s been a rather hit and miss affair to date, particularly with the marketing waters being constantly muddied by new technologies and the different parameters they bring for measuring marketing effectiveness. Whilst the only real truth to date has been that it is crucial to carry out some measure of ROI, just how to do it has been hotly debated.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing has now produced a paper on measuring ROI, which we believe is well worth a look.The report looks at how marketing creates money and how to maximise your return on ideas, whilst achieving superior results from Finance and Marketing. The CIM has talked to over 100 organisations about what works for them and what doesn’t. They have then produced a framework to be used by any size of company to create a greater sustainable value. For those of you who are CIM members, you can find the paper in the Resource section of the CIM website.

You may be one of the lucky companies at the moment who is asking themselves “What should I do with my marketing spend in 2010?” Many companies have battened down the hatches in the mistaken view that doing nothing will somehow stand them in good stead for when the British recession is finally over.
So what to do with your marketing spend next year, no matter how limited? Should you ditch more traditional marketing methods and tactics and focus on digital? Is it really cheaper and the only way ahead?

As strategic marketing consultants, we’re not only seeing a large number of our clients with reduced marketing spend for next year but with a renewed desire to really make every penny count. That’s the beauty of digital marketing – it’s highly traceable and transparent. But does that mean that more traditional marketing has no place? Some would argue that digital isn’t that new either – we’re all blogging, broadcasting emails and podcasting every day anyway. Digital is such a huge medium, which is still developing, it’s hard to generalise anymore. Also the cost associated with going to market with digital varies so much, even more so than traditional marketing methods – and in many cases can actually be more expensive.

The key focus for getting the most out of your carefully guarded marketing budget has to be integration – choosing the best online and offline marketing for your particular requirement at any given moment. Measuring the success of each will then always remain crucial, without resorting to just bean counting the number of clicks you’ve got to your website.

Marketing is too varied and too complicated to generalise down to simply “Should I go digital or traditional,” and going for the cheapest option has never been the strategic choice of a winner anyway. What works for one company, or indeed product, will not necessarily work for another. With the vast choice of channels we now have on offer, the real skill is in using the appropriate channel at the appropriate time. In short, staying very well informed is the only way forward. This is how we work as strategic marketing consultants – we aim to find the best solution, be it the development and implementation of a traditional direct mail campaign or an internet marketing strategy, ideally combining the best that both have to offer to achieve the very best results for our clients.

It’s always interesting and enlightening to work with clients who have a strong, well thought-through and well-articulated sales proposition – those who have thought through their product offering and value proposition carefully, who have a profound understanding of what their customers want and who know what their competitors are up to. Unfortunately our experience of working as marketing strategy consultants shows us that these companies are the exception rather than the rule.

Now more than ever it’s absolutely imperative that, before embarking on any kind of marketing or business development activity, companies have a clear idea of how they are going to successfully compete. As marketing consultants we often encounter companies who have decided on a new website for example, without really thinking about the bigger picture – i.e. what is the target audience for that website or what the key selling messages are that they want the website to convey. It is critical to clearly understand your sales proposition before deciding on which direction to take to promote your business. Developing a compelling proposition to take to market revolves around answering three simple questions:-

1. What business problem are you looking to solve?
2. Why should your prospective clients choose you above your competitors?
3. Can you deliver on your promises?

But be warned: an overly simple answer to any of these questions will not be compelling enough to convince new companies, previously unaware of your existence, to start doing business with you.

In our experience, to build a strong case you need to be able to demonstrate the Return on Investment (ROI) and value added that you can deliver for your potential customers. In other words, clearly demonstrate what extra your customers could gain from paying for your product or services. Demonstrating ROI isn’t rocket science, but it can be a grey area where many companies fail to identify the real benefits that they deliver to their customers. The key is to get your potential customers to focus on the return bit of the equation, rather than the initial investment of buying from you. And with more and more companies having to justify every last penny spent at the moment, you need to be able to demonstrate the strength of your own proposition before chasing down the all too rare new business development opportunities.

More than ever, companies are coming under pressure to negotiate on price, to give the best deal possible, a “credit crunch special.” There are numerous tried and tested strategies for dealing with the all-too common obstacle of price, with the general consensus being to steer your potential customer away from price towards a discussion about value. But here’s the rub: it’s a lot more difficult than it sounds.

As strategic marketing consultants, we find that a many companies struggle to correctly identify a value proposition which will be sufficiently appealing to their buyer. What your customers value and what they are actually prepared to pay for it are often different. The question is: how to bridge this gap. We help our own customers to correctly identify just what their customers consider to be value for money by carrying out detailed research amongst their key targets. Only with an understanding of what it important to the end customer can you really start to create a valid value proposition which will be credible and resonate amongst your target market. Time spent on developing a credible proposition will save time further down the line and hopefully avoid any protracted discussions around price. What’s more, it’s same to assume that most customers already believe they are purchasing something of value and are willing to pay for something as a “fair equivalent” for their money. But what they are really looking for is “value-added”, in other words “good value”.

Whatever the price point you set, your customers need to believe that that what they are buying is actually worth more to them than what they are paying. In other words, when you come to define – or indeed, redefine – your value proposition, try to find things you can offer to add exclusive yet highly relevant value – all included in your very reasonable price! Once you have done this, you need to make sure you communicate these elements to your customers to further reinforce your value proposition.

By taking  the time to think about just what your customers value and how you can build that into your proposition, you can protect your pricing, stave of competitors and keep your customers coming back for more!

Your marketing activities are no doubt already strategically aligned with your overall company objectives, but you can do even more to ensure that all your future marketing spend really is aimed at working more strategically for you.

Use marketing to ensure you effectively communicate your value proposition to your customers.

It’s one thing to recognise the tougher times you are operating in. It’s quite another to look at repositioning your product and service offering accordingly to drive sales.  As marketing strategy consultants, we are encouraging our customers to challenge what they do and to think strategically for both the short and the long-term. Now might be the time to look at allocating extra training and resources for your sales team to fully understand how to more persuasively explain how your solutions can help your potential customers. Now’s the time to help your customers to fight their corner. Today’s challenge is not necessarily about convincing buyers to sign on the dotted line. It’s more about helping your customers get the relevant approval to go ahead with buying your products or services.

This means making sure you can clearly demonstrate results by developing or enhancing any ROI tools you have that can demonstrate the value of investing in your products and services to your customer.

It means developing strong testimonials  and references to demonstrate a sound reason to buy. It means making it as easy as possible for your customers to buy from you. Now really is the time to balance a strategic marketing approach with a shorter-term tactical approach to generating sales.

By strengthening your relationship with existing customers, keeping up to date with any changes in the marketplace and constantly re-evaluating marketing strategies, marketing can become even more effective in the continued tough times ahead.

It might seem like a big ask, but now is the time to perk up and start to think about all the good things you could be doing to improve your market share and to drive sales – even in a downturn.

When everyone else is cutting budgets and panicking, marketing needs to act quickly to ensure future growth is achievable. Easier said than done, but as marketing strategy consultants, we are encouraging our clients to take a closer look at how they spend their business development and marketing budgets and to think about how they might do things differently.

For example, try focussing spend on tangible demand generation rather than brand-building. An overhaul of your approach to new business development will reap more measurable rewards at the moment rather than a corporate ad in an industry glossy. Or perhaps try focussing your sales efforts on individual accounts, particularly where your competitors may be weakening their grasp as they start to suffer from the effects of the recession.

If that’s too parochial, try just focussing on smaller market segments to achieve real market penetration.

As far as any weakening competitors are concerned, there may even be some who right now could be open to a merger or even acquisition. It’s a bold move but one that could pay real dividends when the market improves.

In terms of cost-free marketing activity, nothing can beat face-to-face contact with the senior people at your key customers. Whilst is does require time on your part, the value of sitting down with your key customers for a meaningful discussion on how you can work through the turbulent times together is immeasurable. Especially if your competitors are also doing their jobs and keeping an eye on any possible new business opportunities. You can use these interactions not just to build or shore up relationships, but also to glean valuable market information. And as the old saying goes, information is power.

Now really is the time to make sure that every last penny spent on marketing is well spent and is either increasing or shoring up your market share. That means choosing your marketing tactics carefully and measuring its effectiveness every step of the way.

When your hard-earned enquiry does come in, you obviously respond quickly with exactly the information your prospective customer needs to make the right decision. But despite your compelling argument, your proposal is rejected.

But why? Have you ever wondered? Have you ever asked? If not, you’re missing out on an opportunity to learn some valuable insights in how to move your business forward. But how do you go about asking? Many people find this is an uncomfortable situation to approach. It’s actually quite easy, if you handle it professionally.

Create a Form

Create a short form or questionnaire that lists a few questions you’d like the answers to. You may want to ask:

• if the proposal itself was clear
• whether all the information the prospect needed to make a decision was included
• did the proposal offer value for money
• whether your proposed product/service solution fitted their needs
• if any element was missing from your proposal

Resist he temptation to ask to see the winning proposal or ask which company won. These questions are too probing and could make your prospect feel uncomfortable.

Ask Permission

Ask your prospects for permission to send the questionnaire. This will give them the opportunity to refuse if they don’t care to participate.

Send the Form

Email works best in these situations – it gives your prospect time to think about the answers and what information to provide. Be prepared for some to head straight for the dustbin – but by keeping it short and by thanking them in advance for their insight and help in improving how you do business, you can minimize the temptation to bin your form.

While follow-up is usually a good thing, in this case it’s not advisable. If the prospect is too busy or simply changed his/her mind about responding, let it go.

Take time to learn from the feedback

When you get your responses, review them carefully. Don’t make radical adjustments based on one or two pieces of feedback. Instead, wait until you’ve collected several forms then look for trends. If you see that most prospects are making reference to the same things, you’ll know it’s time to make some changes.

We generally find that, as Strategic Marketing Consultants, by asking a few simple questions, you can find out an enormous amount of information that can help to turn losing proposals into winning ones – increasing your ROI from your marketing investment. While no one will win every project they bid on, with some “inside information” direct from your prospects, you’ll have a much better shot at creating winning in the future and  making sure that all your marketing activity generates as much value for money as possible.

With so many articles out there focussing on the doom and gloom of the current economic situation, it was refreshing to come across this article by John Quelch on the Harvard Business publishing site. He’s a welcome positive voice in encouraging businesses to start to plan for a brighter future, when it arrives. If you’re surviving the downturn and have made the necessary adjustments – possibly downsizing, definitely shedding unprofitable customers and almost certainly deleting poor selling products from your portfolio – then now if the time to plan ahead. In his article, John recommends a number of key strategies, which we – as Marketing Consultants - find echo the advice we are giving many of our customers.  He talks about the importance of customer focused marketing – focussing on high-potential customers and taking the time to fully appreciate how the downturn might have changed your relationship with your customers and how they want to buy from you in the future. If you feel like grasping hold of a bit of optimism then take a look at his article – it might just put a spring in your step!