If you read one article on where marketing is heading in 2010, then this is it. It’s already been tweeted 627 times as I write this into! It’s written by David Garland of Rise To The Top and I think he’s nailed it – from claiming the 30 second is FINALLY dead, to big brands learning from us little guys (check this podcast) to the death of the one-way website it’s an article that will get you (the marketer and / or business owner champing at the bit for the new year to arrive. In fact don’t, start now! Read on.

There are many reasons…here’s 5 to kick things off:

1. Marketing is the quickest way to a sale. Great marketing identifies a problem your customer or prospect is experiencing and then provides them with a solution that gives them every reason to buy from you (and not your competition). Think of it like this…the marketer of a business has control of five very big levers labelled Product, Price, Place, Promotion and People. Their challenge is to adjust these levers to positions that make your offer so irresistible and compelling that it’s impossible not to buy from you…that competing with them seems far less desirable.
2. It’s your only (profitable) point-of-difference. Today’s market place (in almost every industry) is one of parity – it’s full of businesses offering the same products, at the same price, delivered in the same way. So how does one stand out? Well, you could be the cheapest…but discounting is a dead-end street as it is quickly copied, and a point is reached where a business can’t be any cheaper or they’ll lose money. Instead, it’s much more effective to be clever in the way you package up product, deliver it in ways that make it easy for them to use it and offer payment options that makes it much easier to say YES than NO!
3. “People can copy what we do, but not who we are” – Martin Daley, the head of People at Virgin Blue, uttered this. In saying so, he was admitting that it was possible for anyone to walk on up and start an airline. That was easy enough! What was much harder for them to do was create a brand that meant something…a brand that defined the business in the minds of its prospects and customers in a way that made them want to be a part of.
4. Great marketing creates a strong brand – A brand is best defined as an emotional attachment. This is not meant in any soppy kind of way. Not at all. The type of emotional attachment we talk about here is one in which you create a brand that clearly demonstrates it understands its target audience. One that shows insight and sympathy for what they are dealing with and provides simple, interesting solutions that make them want to buy from you. Most importantly, once a customer is emotionally connected to your brand it is that much harder for them to look elsewhere as they see real value in what you are offering.
5. Marketing creates a sense of value and meaning – As the previous point indicates, if you spend time building a brand (and remember, you register a business, but you build a brand) then you are inherently creating value for your customers. And a customer, who feels as though they are receiving real value by transacting with you, is generally willing to pay above the odds.

What would you add?

It often occurs to me that customers and prospects only know a little of what I offer.

Does this mean my offer is too broad? Or is it that I don’t make clear what it is I do?

I suspect it’s both…which is kind of ironic given I specialise in marketing communications of which Lesson 1, Term 1 is to be simple, clear and single-minded in all your communications! Ah well, nobody’s perfect.

But that’s OK…I’m in the process of fixing that up as I write this post. And I like to wear my heart on my sleeve!

The thing is, there’s a great opportunity awaiting all marketers and business owners to detail exactly what it is their business offers. And I don’t just mean in terms of products or services…although this is surely top of the list.

I’m talking about other things as well like:

• Payment terms
• Opening hours
• Contact details
• Payment options
• Guarantees
• Training
• Special deals

The list is endless. Why keep any powder dry when there’s a potential sale at stake?

Let your customers and prospects know all there is to know about your business…they can cherry pick the necessary information to make an informed decision…which is hopefully to buy…FROM YOU!

What do you think? Should you keep some powder dry?

Many Clients ask me if they should be utilising the various social mediums available to them.

As long as they’re up for providing ongoing content, and they (or someone within their business) has an inkling about how to find their way around the web, then my view is GIVE SOCIAL MEDIA A GO. And here’s 12 reasons why:

1. To engage in conversations with their customers. (Do we need any more reasons?!). Assuming we do then…
2. To attract prospects.
3. To provide customer service (answering questions, giving advice).
4. To gain information on our competition.
5. To exchange information with others who know more than you.
6. To extend your reach globally (this may force you to develop a new offer).
7. It costs nothing but time (compare that to other marketing channels).
8. It’s fun (nothing wrong with that!).
9. It’s measurable and accountable (compare that to advertising, sponsorship, direct mail).
10. To attract quality employees, suppliers.
11. To attract media attention.
12. To position yourself as an expert…or at least someone who knows what they’re talking about.

Let’s create the ultimate list. Why do you believe businesses should use social media?

Whilst I am known for my criticising of advertising as a way for small businesses to promote themselves, I do get a little shiver up my back when I see really smart ads. Here’s a three recent ones that did just that:

The world can be such a serious place. Having three children who are now of news-watching age reminds me of this every day.

If it’s not bush fires…It’s terrorism. If it’s not terrorism it’s a horrific car accident. Murders. Recession. Concession. Depression. Blah blah blah. You get my drift.

However, the good news is that within all the gloom lies opportunities for smart marketers and business owners to get peoples’ attention.

This opportunity is an insight in to the way we’re all thinking and feeling. You see, we know everthing’s not OK, and we’re looking for any rays of sunshine to put a smile on our face.

What I’m about to suggest is not about creating sugary sweet messages that infer that if we buy this or try that then all will be good.

Uh, uh…It’s about taking a light-hearted attitude to the way we promote our business.

Stop being so serious about it for a minute and ask yourself this…”What would my business message be if I just wanted to entertain and  reward my customers?”

A local shopping strip did this only recently with this clever use of a traffic sign…No hard sell, no big logo, no “do this, do that”. Just some simple, light messages aimed at making people smile. Isn’t that beautiful? And in smiling…they just might hang about that little bit longer….spend a little more money…walk away happy. Now, how’s that for a real commercial outcome?!

What do you think? Can you adopt this approach for your business? How?

In my Marketing workshops for small business owners I talk a lot about how important it is to get your message right before you worry about where to put it. I call this simply – The Message VS The Medium.

In my experience working with 100s of SMEs over the years they too quickly race to deciding that they need a website, or a brochure or a telemarketing campaign or an ad…You get the idea. The problem is they don’t give the necessary thought in to deciding what to say. And I think I know why…IT’S HARD! Most of us are not born copy writers…many of us don’t think we’re creative.

So we find ourselves writing copy for our precious business’s marketing material that often misses the mark because it’s either long-winded, feature driven, poorly constructed and so on.

So, what to do? Well, whilst I’m no professional writer myself, experience has shown me a few tips and tricks that will go along way to making your marketing copy sing. In no particular order they are:

1. Write as if you were writing to an old friend, telling them about your business.
2. Employ an expert…You’ll find many willing copy writers at www.elance.com
3. Turn every point in your existing copy in to a benefit. So, if your product comes in 52 different colours then change this to there’s a colour to suit every decor.
4. Write your copy so an eight year old can understand it.
5. Write what you believe to be the ideal copy to sell your business offer and then work backwards removing every single word that is not required…Less is definitely more.
6. Write in point form…we tend to consume bulleted information better anyway. Big, chunky paragraphs can often look way too scary!
7. Inject your personality in to the copy…Avoid being formal and uptight. Have some fun with it.
8. Write with this in mind…People don’t care about my business. What I hear you say. Well, that’s the harsh reality…we’re al bombarded with advertising and marketing messages all day long. Why should people care more about mine than the next one? Write great copy and you’ll find out.

Once you’ve got compelling copy that really does sell your business then worry bout where to put it. Remember…MESSAGE comes before MEDIUM.

What do you think? What do you do to ensure your marketing copy jumps off the page?

I don’t know about you but I love it when I see I see a product (or service) promote itself by an extreme demonstration. The picture tells a thousand words.

How would you use this marketing tactic to promote your business?

A brand is best defined as an emotional attachment.

Newsletters, brochures, websites, advertisements and even blogs are all mediums of communication that aim reach out to your target market and create that attachment. A major part of any of these mediums is the copy…the other part of course being the visuals.

Without effective copy, your market may be oblivious to your message, and it’s one reason why so many attempts at attracting more customers simply fail. Knowing who your prospects are is just the first step in reaching out to your new customers, but learning about how to stir their desire and motivation in order to find you appealing is the necessary element to marketing success. Whether it’s in sales collateral, a newsletter, or a blog post, marketing with emotion needs to be a major part of your plan.

The first step in choosing your message involves identifying what they really want. Is it status? Vanity? Relief from fear? Increased security? Understanding the basic desires of your customers may require a brainstorming session or two, but the more you can fine-tune your message to appeal to the basic human emotions, the easier it will be to capture their attention. Fear and greed are the most common emotion-stirrers, and are also the themes we see time and time again in mass marketing today…There’s a lot to be learnt from the way the big marketers go about it. Take a look around and see for yourself which ads stick out from the crowd—in almost all cases, they are presenting a message that is designed to appeal to our most basic desires.

Build an emotional attachment between your business and your target audience and you’re well on the way to getting your business booming.

You can find many more ideas to get your business booming right here.