Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Marketing for start up businesses

New business start ups generally have need of effective marketing, but little resource to invest. How can a new business succeed?

One source notes that one in three new businesses fail within the first three years and lists a number of reasons. Guess what? Top of the list is 'poor marketing'. Marketing is also closely associated with other reasons cited for failure such as lack of planning and financial liquidity. Although there have been and continue to be, various government initiatives to encourage start up businesses, having a good product or service idea is not enough on its own and becoming an immediate expert in marketing, finance, selling, stock control, distribution and many other skills is simply unrealistic.

In running a small business ourselves for many years we have tended to divide our work effort into 3 main categories:-

  • The process of generating enquiries, acquiring new customers or clients and getting an order or  a brief for the work required.
  • Actually doing the work itself and delivering this to the client.
  • Then, all the back office work such as book keeping, paying invoices and taxes, issuing invoices and progressing payments, banking, maintenance of premisses, ordering supplies and everything else it takes to keep the business functioning.
The most important thing to remember is that only selling a product or service generates an income. Getting business is an investment to help create sales and administration is an expense. Small businesses     are often very small in the start up phase - just one or two people - and resources are measured in both time and money, both are scarce.

Because marketing is such a key element, even a start up business should budget some money and time and consider this an investment that needs to earn its way in bringing in quality sales leads. Before even starting a business, market research is essential to drawing up a realistic business plan. OK  so you have a great product or service concept. Now you need to research pricing, competition, estimate the market size, the target market for your product and who are you selling to - the target audience. The business plan should have an objective which can be simply stated such as to sell X  products in year 1, gain X% market share or achieve £X sales. New businesses often over estimate sales and predict unrealistic growth. It is better to be conservative and set a marketing strategy to hit achievable targets and plan finances to suit.

Marketing communications is the key to telling your target audience that you are in business, you have a product which has benefits to them - think about user benefits not a list of product features they may neither understand or care about - and use several communications channels to get your message to the type of people who you have identified as potential customers. 

So finally a word on what marketing communication channels to use. First of all avoid the sales pitch of advertising space salesmen. The "just closing the issue at a special discount if you buy now" type of offer should be resisted. Time for paid for advertising later once you are established, understand your market better and which media is relevant. Likewise exhibitions can be expensive; build a sustainable business first. Do build a competent web site and invest in professional design too for not only the web site but all relevant communication collateral. Use word of mouth marketing, get satisfied customers to endorse and recommend your product, use online tools such as social media to promote news about your product. Maybe use your passion for the subject to build up a an audience that sees your blog as an authority in your market niche. And above all nurture your customers, get repeat business and encourage them to spread the word.

Content ideas - books


Yes, books. Real books. Books that can be touched, carried, read without a screen or pixels. A corporate book is more than a marketing piece; it conveys the experience of a company, its tradition, beliefs, philosophy and history. It adds credibility to the company and gives provides an alternative, yet supporting, perspective to the sales mission. In a highly competitive industry it can raise a company profile and support other elements of your marketing mix. It is also a gift that is valued by clients, and definitely has a retention value. And these days of print-on-demand, the investment need not be high.

So what content do these corporate books contain? The key elements are to do with building on the company's reputation, emphasizing its experience and providing a client with confidence that placing an order for a product or service is the right thing to do. The Guide booklet advice given last time can also be included in a full book content if appropriate.

The route to deciding content divides between an established business and a new one. For companies with a history, some background is a good start with archive photos, and an explanation of a client-friendly business philosophy that has continued through to the present. A timeline of development and, ‘pushing the envelope’ inventions provides a solid foundation for implicit claims that your company and services/products have a strong legacy, based on knowledge and experience. Tracing current designs, business models back to the origins all helps to provide a complete story that can be illustrated with case studies woven into an illustrated portfolio. Finish up with the here and now. Investment in people, the business, current benefits for clients and conclude with looking to the future.

A corporate book is slightly different for a new company making its way into a potentially crowded market. Here, you would look at setting out why you are entering the market, what you can offer clients that they don’t have already (yes, this means that if you don’t have a USP, then maybe a book isn’t the way to go). But if you are bringing new thought to the market, then let’s look at a similar plan to the established company route with a beginning, middle and end: where you experience has come from, what you are doing now, and where you are going in the future. And don’t forget the photos! A picture replaces a thousand words, and the best book content is based on the quality and interest value of the images. 

Content ideas - technical guides


Following on from our current theme of content marketing ideas, this week we look at an extension of the whitepapers idea: technical guides.

There are many opportunities for looking at slightly ‘left field’ forms of marketing. In the world of technical marketing, when a company offers technical advice gathered from years of development and practical experience, it is seen not as a sales pitch but an altruistic gift, yet one that is closely linked to the sponsor’s brand. Yes, of course all this information can be uploaded on a website and listed by Google, but our experience is that even a small printed booklet is still given and received as a 'gift'.

A guide booklet is a subliminal sales tool, but unlike a whitepaper (which focuses on a single subject), a guide extends to the complete topic surrounding the advertising message you want to distribute. The guide is created in a style that explains a technology in easy to understand terms, with sufficient history to provide a background, but not so much to be boring.

All new product ranges, technical solutions or services are ideal subjects for a guide booklet project. While avoiding specific references and ‘catalogue entry’ descriptions of products, the guide will provide a canvas of background information to b-2-b specifiers and buyers and gently explain about why previous technologies have developed to the logical point that describes your product’s unique benefit.

Of course, the guide uses plenty of subtle yet direct references to the products being sold, but in non-specific terms 'Fig 5: A typical example of a waterproof digital widget', or 'Graph 7: Comparison of energy efficiency of the traditional and the new technology…’ Using a combination of technical and journalistic copywriting techniques, the guide booklet can have many marketing benefits. In addition to the primary means to introduce a new product, or range of products or services, it can also help to promote your company as a caring, generous corporation, and most importantly be a sales tool with the all-important retention value. 

Thursday, March 07, 2013

Content ideas - white papers

As remarked in the previous blog, more opportunities for publishing, call for more content.

A White Paper can be a useful marketing tool particularly in an area where the company has special expertise and knowledge that a potential customer might find helpful as a briefing prior to the product selection stage. Accordingly a white paper is usually about a single subject, such as a new technology and can be used to help readers understand the issues involved before starting a process of product  evaluation. The tone should aim to be neutral and authoritative examining both the benefits and the disadvantages and allowing the reader to make his own decision based on informed knowledge.

Although not overtly discussing products in the white paper, the reader will still have a view of the company as expert and therefore be favourably inclined towards that company as a result. It is part of building a recognition as ideas leader and capturing the moral high ground of that market place.