Make today your new day

Posted on May 25, 2016 by The Future of Marketing

I was recently invited by the team at Digital DNA to contribute a guest blog in advance of the upcoming conference in Belfast on 8th June 2016.

The focus for my article was the opportunity for us as marketers to seize the new opportunity that exists for us to not only be content producers but also to be the distribution channel in this new digital world.

You can read the full post on the DigitalDNA website.

You can read my thoughts on the DigitalDNA conference here – penned after a previous visit.

From STEM to STEAM?

Posted on January 20, 2016 by The Future of Marketing

I recognised the value of STEM when the term was first introduced into our vocabulary to represent the increasing focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

It was a useful tool for discussions around education, employability and making sure that our education providers knew that industry needs these skills in order to maximise the potential for growth and innovation.

However, I now think that the time has come where the expression ‘too much of anything is bad for you’ is true of STEM. It seems to me that the story has progressed from simply recognising that STEM subjects are an important part of the mix when it comes to the skills society needs to prosper.

It has now reached the stage where STEM appears to be all that is spoken about in any conversation about education and this approach is disrespectful to the contribution that many other subjects make to the society we live in, the schools we learn in and the businesses we work in.

Art and design have a huge role to play in the future success of our businesses as well as helping to create a rounded society which is self-aware and uses this knowledge to create better products, better services and better relationships with our customers.

In today’s world, where everything has to be measured on a spreadsheet, art, design and the humanities are at risk of being phased out because there is no obvious formula to measure the positive impact they have on us as individuals or on our businesses and customers.

But STEM subjects alone will not provide us with the insights we need in order to be able to understand how our customers will interact with us. More than 80% of all the decisions we make are emotional ones rather than rational ones. The only predictable thing about our interactions with human beings as customers is that they will be completely unpredictable. It’s those with an understanding of and an education in the art, design and humanities subjects that will bring this understanding to the game.

The growth in popularity of The School of Life in recent years provides some evidence of a growing realisation of the value that art, design and humanities can offer the business world.

What started as a self-help project to help people build more meaningful relationships and become more fulfilled in their own everyday lives has developed into a tool that hundreds if not thousands of businesses are using to develop deep emotional connections with customers.

It’s time to evolve STEM. A recent incarnation of this is STEAM with the ‘A’ representing the need to also focus on art, design and the humanities. There is a huge amount that art, music, design and philosophy can teach us about ourselves and it is this knowledge which will help us to better understand our customers, leading to better new products, stronger customer relationships and more profitable businesses.

So let’s grasp the opportunity that this presents and realise that balance is the answer. This is how we will deliver what our businesses need in the future.

How to crack the ‘content’ in content marketing

Posted on October 19, 2015 by The Future of Marketing

For almost all the marketers I speak to the single biggest obstacle to maximising the opportunity that content marketing presents is the content bit.

It’s not that we don’t have the content ideas or that we don’t understand the principles of a good content marketing strategy. It’s quite simply finding the time to produce all of the new content that you believe prospects and existing customers will find interesting and / or useful.

Producing this valuable, helpful and informative content takes time. Before we go any further it’s important that I point out that I haven’t found a magic formula for producing new content at the speed we would all like to.

Instead, I have concluded that there is a far easier way to get the content in your content marketing strategy to work harder for you.

Sound like a plan? Let me explain:

As I’ve already said – producing good content takes time. After spending this time we unfortunately don’t maximise the benefit to be extracted from all that hard work.

I’m sure that you have on many occasions (as I have) upon completing your latest content project simply posted it on your chosen social channels, added it to your website and targeted relevant online discussion groups only to swiftly move on to the development of your next content project.

By doing this you are not maximising the potential for your content to generate leads, encourage attendance at your event, secure downloads for your white paper – whatever your specific objectives may be.

You worked really hard developing that content – so make the most of the opportunity it presents.

Only a very small proportion of your social audience will see your content if you only post it once. By using one of the many social scheduling tools and re-posting across different channels at different times you will greatly increase the exposure that your content gets.

It’s only then that you can be sure that you are extracting maximum value from the hard work you put in to developing the content in the first place.

It’s also a great way to conduct some live research – change the headlines, choose different images, post at different times of the day.

By doing this and studying your analytics you’ll develop a new awareness of what content works best, in what place and at what time.

You’ll then be in a position to decide which of your many ideas for new content will best help you to achieve your goals.

You’ll then find that all the content you develop starts working harder for you.

It’s easy to get caught in the trap of thinking that loads of content is all you need for a successful content marketing strategy.

What you really need is useful, helpful and informative content from which you extract maximum value.

I’m as guilty as anyone of being tempted by the exciting distraction of shiny new content – just remember that a lot of your existing content is new to an awful lot of people who haven’t yet been exposed to it.

The importance of context in social media advertising

Posted on August 17, 2015 by The Future of Marketing

I’m about as passionate about all things marketing as is healthy (and maybe just a little more) – but a recent experience has firmed up the importance of context.

Let me explain.

In trying to determine where is the best place to promote your products or services the conversation must extend beyond just where your customers are. It must also ask ‘why are they there?’

I’ve been subjected to an assault recently when on Facebook by a crowd who call themselves ‘Luv for Marketing’.

Firstly, I’ve (almost) forgiven them for their ‘down with the kids’ name and since they’re appearing on my news feed I’m assuming that even as a 40 year old they do think they have something to offer me.

This is not the problem however.

The problem is that when I’m on Facebook that’s not what I’m there for.

I’m there for lots of other reasons – the vast majority of them recreational. Latest sports news, checking the build up to some upcoming events and – let’s be honest – being nosey.

Luv for Marketing appear on the surface to have got everything right – I’m interested in their subject matter and they’ve crafted concise yet descriptive ads which indicate to me that they’d be worth looking into further.

But the fact is that I’ve seen the ad more than 50 times now and haven’t once clicked the ‘learn more’ button.

Why?

Because in that place (Facebook) at that time (downtime after work) I’ve had my fill of marketing for the day.

If, on the other hand, they’d got at me through LinkedIn while I was updating my company page it’s more than likely that I would have acted on their prompts before now.

While this is just my own personal experience with one particular advertiser I think it raises some interesting questions around context and timing when considering our marketing messages.

Disclaimer:
This post is in no way a negative comment on the services that Luv for Marketing offer or their marketing approach. It is simply my own experience of their Facebook marketing which I hope is working fabulously well for them.

If anyone from Luv for Marketing should read this post – get in touch. I’m interested.

If you’d like some help defining the necessary context for your social media advertising then get in touch.

Go back

Your message has been sent

What the colour of your logo says about you

Posted on July 28, 2015 by The Future of Marketing

It’s just a colour right? Doesn’t mean anything.

You couldn’t be more wrong. The colour that you choose for your company logo will say a lot about you to your customers and prospects so you better make sure that you choose the right one.

And it doesn’t stop at colour – your font is making a statement about the kind of organisation you are an the shapes you use within your logo also has an implication for how you will be perceived.

So, what do you want to say?

Do we want to be perceived as honest and trustworthy?

Is bold and passionate more you?

Or are you going for the sophisticated, luxury look?

If you’re in the process of trying to select the right logo for you business or considering a redesign then you should check out the great infographic below from Colourfast, a Canadian plastic card maker.

Prepare to have all your questions on colour, type face and shapes answered.

The psychology of colour in the design of your logo

Why design matters

Video

I came across this video on the YouTube channel of The School of Life recently and couldn’t agree more.

Good design matters because it helps us be better versions of ourselves. Find out why – watch the video below

The 3 C’s of a successful content marketing strategy

Posted on June 15, 2015 by The Future of Marketing

We’re all producing new content on a daily basis which we hope will be eagerly consumed by customers. This involves the distribution of this content to our target media – both online and offline so what is it that will get our content selected for publishing?

The Chartered Institute of Marketing in Ireland (CIM) held an event in Malmaison Belfast today which sought to address this very issue and one of the contributors was Gavin Walker. Editor, Business First of the Business First publication. As the gatekeeper who is in ultimate control of whether our content gets the airtime we desire when Gavin (or others holding editorial positions) speaks it’s worth listening.

What I took away from Gavin’s presentation was the 3 c’s to a successful content marketing strategy:

Context
Content
Conversations

1 – Context

The first point in relation to context refers not to the subject matter of your material but instead focuses on the infrastructure and resources available to the majority of publications that we target.

Gone are the days when editorial teams are staffed with an army of willing copywriters and journalists who will have either the time or the inclination to redraft your content to make it suitable for publication.

Therefore, in order to maximise the opportunity for your content to get published you need to think about how it will be formatted.

The copy that you send to your target media will have a much greater chance of success if it can be lifted and placed with minimal additional editing.

This requires you to make sure that your copy does not make unsubstantiated claims about how good your product, service or company is.

A simple way to overcome this is to first write about yourself in the third person. Construct your copy as if it is being put together by an impartial journalist – this ensures a focus on the facts and the key messages you want to get across and avoids it reading like a paid for advertorial (which won’t get published – unless you’re paying for it).

Another key element of context is an understanding of where the content will be published.

Is it for a magazine or newspaper or is it for an online publication?

It’s increasingly likely that it’s for both as most print publications will have a website as well.

If the content you’re sending is specifically for print or online then specify this within the release.

A technical article or detailed project case study is probably best suited to a print publication where people will most likely give your content some more time.

A release about the event you’re hosting, a new product launch, new appointments may be best suited to the online publication as a result of the immediacy it offers.

Gavin made some very interesting points about the formatting of releases destined for online publication:

Headlines – keep these to 65 characters or less to ensure search engine optimisation and make sure they include relevant keywords

Description – include a meta description of 160 characters or less which is keyword focused and can then be used by the online publication to describe your content.

Images – name your images with relevant keywords and include the caption to accompany the image as separate text within your release.

Links – if you would like your content to link to a specific landing page on your website rather than the home page then include the details within your release.

Social links – include details of the links to all your relevant social media channels so that if (and when) the publication decides to share your new content they are able to include you in the post.

2 – Content

Now we’ve got the structure sorted it’s time to focus on the content itself.

Gavin observed that too much content is focused on what the MD wants to talk about rather than what our customers will actually find interesting.

With editorial departments being swamped by over sterilised corporate releases a little bit of extra thought and consideration for your copy can greatly improve not only the potential for it to be published but for it to have real impact.

This links nicely with the other contributor to today’s CIM
event, Chris Fielding-Martin, from UK hotel chain Malmaison.

Every piece of content Malmaison Belfast produce has an edge to it. From their new approach to ‘do not disturb’ signs to how they encourage breakfast room service orders to the signage they use to brand construction works at new or existing hotels.

They are able to do this successfully because they understand what their value proposition is, they understand their target audience and they understand the importance of consistency in all their communications.

As Chris pointed out during his presentation, as they’re in the hotel game what goes on behind the bedroom door is very much their business.

Of course we can’t all be as edgy as Malmaison but we can learn from their approach.

Understand what the objective of the content we’re publishing is. What are we trying to achieve? What do we want the customer to do once they have consumed our content?

Does the content we’re producing make it clear what our value proposition is in relation to the product or service that we’re promoting? Does it answer the ‘what’s in it for me?’ question.

Is the content we’re producing consistent? This is fairly easy to achieve if you have one person producing all of your content but if this is not the case you need to take steps to ensure this consistency.

This will require that you have clear brand guidelines which include a ‘tone of voice’ element.

What sort of language will you use – will it be formal or informal?

How do you describe what it is that your company offers?

What words or phrases do you use to describe the value that you are adding for your customers?

While it can all seem a little daunting it is essential that you take all of these steps to maximise the return from all the content development activity that you are involved with.

With the volume of content being produced across so many channels on a daily basis it’s essential that you take the time to carefully consider your content strategy as this will ensure you stand out from the crowd.

3 – Conversations

Maximising the success of your content marketing strategy is an ongoing process that continues well beyond the placement of your material in your target publications or on your own blog, website, social channels.

As a marketer I believe that the biggest potential benefit of the rise of social media is the ability for us to speak directly to our customers.

If our content marketing strategy is successful the result will be an increase in the volume of conversations about our product, service or company online. These conversations will happen whether we are involved or not so it is incumbent on all of us to make sure we are aware of all the conversations that are going on.

It’s important to stress here that this doesn’t necessarily mean we should get involved in every conversation – there are some conversations that we should take a step back from if they have the potential to damage our brand. There may also be cases, as highlighted by Chris from Malmaison today where getting involved may just be adding fuel to the fire.

While we should be a aware of these conversations sometimes it’s best to say nothing.

Negative feedback is probably impossible to eradicate so we need to know how to deal with it. This has to be considered on a case by case basis – some issues may be quickly sorted out in public on social media but in other instances it may be best to show an initial response in public but encourage the individual concerned to take the communication offline where it can be dealt with better.

Thanks to the CIM in Ireland for organising another great event today. I found it a very useful session and hope that this post gives those that didn’t attend an opportunity to be benefit from the presentations given by Chris Fielding-Martin of Malmaison and Gavin Walket of Business First.

I’ve included the Twitter handles for the relevant contributors to today’s event below:

Malmaison Hotels on Twitter

Business First Online

Chartered Institute of Marketing (Ireland)

10 tips to help make the most of your awards

Posted on May 30, 2015 by The Future of Marketing

Awards are great. There are so many ways that they can have a positive effect on your business. They will help you raise your profile and build your brand reputation.

They will reinforce to your people that they have backed the right horse and will improve staff retention. They’ll attract new potential funders and investors for your business. But now more than ever the sheer volume of awards makes your selection process even more critical.

So how do you ensure that you capitalise on the marketing opportunity that awards present without wasting time completing applications that are of no benefit to you or your organisation?

Here are a few tips on how to filter your list of potential award entries down to a manageable number.

1 – Understand your objective

The first stage is understanding what you are trying to achieve. Different awards will offer different benefits for your organisation. If your objective is local recruitment then your local Chamber of Commerce Awards are worth a look.

If you’re trying to build awareness of your company in a new market then look at awards being organised by a relevant brand. An example is the Deloitte Best Managed Companies Awards. These are run in several countries and with Deloitte being a recognised International brand being able to associate your name with theirs can give you leg up in new markets.

If you’re trying to attract funding or investment in your company then look for awards being run by local financial institutions. Success here will lead to other funders taking an interest in your business – and can also be a useful way to keep your bank manager on his toes by attracting new offers of business banking and export finance.

Your decision to enter any awards should not be based on a knee jerk reaction to the latest notification you have received. It should relate back to your overall business strategy. It’s only then will you enjoy the full benefit that awards can bring. Of course it’s nice to be asked to enter any awards but learning to say no to the wrong awards is the first part of being successful.

2 – Look at previous winners

Once you’ve identified some potential awards it’s now time to look at them in a bit more detail. Previous winners of the awards are generally published on the awards website so this will give you an idea of the kind of companies that have enjoyed success.

You can then benchmark yourself against the previous winners – have you got a stronger story than them? This process will also help you to identify what award categories are going to be best suited to your business – and ensure you avoid wasting time on an entry that has little or no chance of being successful.

3 – Know the organiser’s objectives

Every awards has an agenda so you need to understand what that agenda is and whether that will act as a help or a hindrance to your efforts. To be frank not all awards are created equal. I’m of the opinion that the more detailed the application process the better. This is evidence of an awards where winners are judged on business performance and merit rather than on who paid the best PR agency to put the application together.

4 – Examine the judging criteria

Almost every awards application form that I have ever across will include details of what the judges are looking for. Spend time looking at the criteria and detailing everything you do that meets the requirements. If you have selected a number of different award categories this will help you identify where you are able to put the strongest application together.

5 – Get contributions from across the organisation

While you will undoubtedly have a good idea of the subjects to be covered in your awards application you won’t have thought of everything. Ask for input from other people to ensure that you’ve covered all the bases. This doesn’t need to take a long time – a 1/2 hour workshop with a flip chart, markers and copies of the judging criteria will typically produce lots of new ideas about what you can highlight in your award entries.

6 – Talk to recent recruits

The people who have recently joined your company are a hugely valuable resource when putting together your award entries. They’re only very recently looking at everything from within and can therefore still give a useful external perspective on what impressed them either during the recruitment process or since they have joined the company.

7 – Give yourself time to write the entries yourself

If you’re in it to win it then the panicked writing of entries as you hurtle towards the submission deadline is not to be recommended. This simply leads to compromised entries where the priority has switched from putting the best possible entry together to simply meeting the deadline.

All the planning you have done in selecting the awards best suited to your company objectives will give you time to plan your submission writing effectively. I suggest that the entry you submit should be at least version 3 – and far too many entries are the first draft.

8 – Get the formatting right

Put yourself in the judges shoes – how would you deal with receiving 20+ award entry documents and a requirement to shortlist them to the top 3? It’s more than likely that your entry will be scanned for the relevant information and quick assessment made of the quality.

Make your entry easy to digest – make sure all your key points are highlighted in as concise a way as you possibly can. It’s also worth thinking about the strengths of the points you are making – some will undoubtedly be stronger than others. You can deal with this by starting strong and finishing strong for maximum impact while sandwiching the less strong points between them.

Having said that, if you think any part of your entry is weak then the judges will probably agree with you so be ruthless about what makes the final cut.

9 – Promote yourself

Once you’ve submitted your entry you need to make yourself known to the organisers. Show an interest in the timeframes for shortlists to be announced and the arrangements for the actual awards event.

Every awards you enter has a commercial element to it so any indication that you’re keen to exploit the opportunity presented by the awards will have an impact on the organisers.

10 – Give a bit back Echoing the previous point, the awards organisers have costs to recover and financial targets to hit for the awards night. An early indication of a willingness to take a table at the awards won’t do you any harm and may improve your chances.

A demonstration for enthusiasm about the awards on all the relevant social media channels will help the organisers build the reputation of the awards. This will also be greatly appreciated by the awards organisers as they seek to promote the awards to as wide an audience as possible.

It’s also worth asking in advance about the availability of special awards logos for shortlisted companies and the winners. This indicates to the organisers that you won’t simply put the award on the shelf but will make the most of the PR opportunity presented by your involvement in the awards.

Grasp the marketing opportunity at every stage

Don’t wait until after the winners are announced to decide to release some PR on the event – because if you don’t win you haven’t got a story. If you’re shortlisted for any award there is a definite PR opportunity for you. If you’re lucky (good?) enough to win you’ll then get 2 PR opportunities from the same award.

There’s another marketing opportunity in the writing of your award entry – you’ll undoubtedly learn about things that your organisation does really well that you didn’t previously know about. Don’t leave this information in the award entry. Make sure you introduce it to your marketing materials – your website, brochures, proposals, videos.

To wrap up…

There are a lot of awards out there and it can be difficult to filter out all the noise and narrow your focus. It is however an exercise worth doing. Winning the right awards can deliver a wide range of benefits so good luck with your submissions. And if you need any help with any part of the process then you know where I am.

Make truth your guiding principle

Posted on May 6, 2015 by The Future of Marketing

Honesty is the best policy. It’s one you’ve probably heard before. Here’s another one – the old ones are the best.

While this isn’t a new concept if you’ve been watching any of the coverage of the British General Election recently you would think the concept of truth is an alien concept for those standing for election. I’m also fairly sure that this isn’t an exclusively British phenomenon.

I have come across those who believe that the purpose of marketing is to con people into buying your product. It seems that the major political parties in the UK (and even the not so major ones) also subscribe to this view.

Staged election canvassing events where small crowds of party activists are crammed together with the photographer told to get in nice and tight so that it looks like a huge crowd.

Completely unsubstantiated claims about cuts to this, extra funding for that.

The complete exploitation of any statistics that exist and the twisting of the facts to suit their own agenda.

And even when the supposed ‘experts’ reveal that their plans aren’t affordable, achievable or even believable they adopt a policy of continuing to peddle their untruths in the hope that we all fall in line.

Truth has always been the core ingredient of successful marketing. Truth around the capability and performance of our products and services. Honesty and integrity in how we treat our customers.

The same is true in how politicians market their policies. They seem to forget that we are operating in a time when voters / consumers have never been as well educated about our policies / products.

When working to create any marketing collateral the question I ask the most is ‘where is the evidence?’

Where is the evidence that your product will cost less to run than the current one?

Where is the evidence that your product is easier to use?

Where is the evidence that you’re better than the competition?

Successful marketing isn’t about bold statements with no substance.

Successful marketing isn’t about making claims that simply don’t stand up to challenge.

Successful marketing is about building products / policies based on an understanding of what will make your customer’s life quicker, easier, more efficient.

If you are not able to make honest claims about what your product / policy can do for your customers / voters then maybe you don’t properly understand your product? Maybe you don’t properly understand your customers?

Or maybe your product doesn’t meet your customers’ requirements and needs a redesign.

Marketing isn’t alchemy. Marketing isn’t a con game – it’s simply a mechanism for showcasing your product or service in all its glory.

So stay honest and make truth your guiding principle.

Choosing the right social media tools for your business

Posted on April 22, 2015 by The Future of Marketing

I was talking to a guy recently who told me that booking a conference room in a hotel and delivering a sales presentation worked really well for his business.

So here’s what I’m going to do.

There’s a really nice conference centre in a hotel near our offices so I’m going to book it for next month. We’re going to put together a killer presentation, build a stage, make a video, lay on some nice food. I’d say 100 people should cover it.

That’s it organised – all systems go.

What’s that you say? What about the audience?

Not a problem – sure that guy told me it worked really well for his business.
I hope you’ll agree that this is a completely ludicrous idea. Ill conceived with no consideration for the requirements of my business.

Yet people are doing this day and daily in marketing departments all over the world.
Maybe not with the conference room booking but instead with their choice of the social media channels that they use.

Like magpies people are drawn to the latest shiny new toy in the pursuit of the coolest way to deliver their marketing messages.

People flock to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn with no knowledge of whether their customers are using this media.

Across the board there seems to be a universal reason for this behaviour – because they’re free.

They only way they are free from a direct financial cost is if you are working for nothing (which I’m guessing that the vast majority of you are not).

Even if you are working for free then there is the cost in terms of your time to consider. Time that you would surely prefer to be spending on activities that will add some value to what you are doing.

And then there’s the opportunity cost – what new business are you missing out on by wasting time on marketing tools that will deliver no results?

How much more business could you win by stopping focusing on all the shiny new toys and narrowing the focus to tried and tested channels that you know will bring you results.

You wouldn’t deliver a sales presentation in an empty room so don’t use any marketing tools until you know your customers are there.

Stop using delivery channels for your marketing messages based on how new, how cool they are or based on other trendy, cool people and companies that may be using them.

Do your research. Understand your customers. Select the right channels. Clearly define the message you want to communicate and the customer interactions you are seeking.
Only then will you be extracting maximum value from every penny in your marketing budget and making the most efficient and valuable use of your time.

Petrac Marketing

Marketing Blog

Category Archives: Marketing Strategy