Last in our SUGAR series – the secret to your marketing success is R. Repeat what works in new ways.

Following on from the previous post. You’ll now be able to clearly see what works for you. It might be a radio ad for example. If you got a great response then do it again – but rejuvenate it with a creative new approach.

You can also keep an eye on what other companies are doing and replicate their success for your business. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Take what works and change it to suit your needs.

If you get a direct mail piece that captures your attention, then think about how it could work for you. Keep it fresh by sending new things in different formats – ie: postcards, flyers, letters, gifts. Get creative and reinvent your activities to capitalise on what’s working in new ways.

Effective marketing will keep your business healthy and flourishing in 2012.

Next in our SUGAR series is – Assessing the results.

It never ceases to amaze me the number of business owners who say their marketing isn’t working, yet when asked how they monitor it, they don’t! How do you know what is working and what is not, if you don’t have a system for monitoring your marketing activities?

The first thing you need to do is set up a system to find out what’s working. Keep it simple and set up a spreadsheet with all your activities down the left hand side and the days of the month along the top. It’s important to list all the activities and places your message is being seen to make it as easy as possible for the person completing the form.

Give the form to everyone who interacts with customers and make it mandatory to ask, ’How did you hear about us?’.

At the end of each day/week collate all the sheets and compile into a master spreadsheet so you have a sound analysis at the end of the month. Keep doing this and you’ll soon see what’s working and what’s not. Now that you are actively tracking results, you can make much better decisions on where to spend your marketing budget.

But be sure to give it 3-6 months to allow time for the activities to be in market. Another tip is to ensure you have your message in a range of places. We’ve covered this before – you’ll have much more success with an integrated campaign across a few areas – radio, direct mail, press etc

To be able to manage your marketing, you must first measure it. You’ll then be able to assess what’s working, address it and reap the rewards.

The third instalment in our SUGAR marketing formula is G for Grunt work or getting it done.

To sum this step up – just do it!

Successful marketing involves consistent output, a focus on implementation and requires a sizable investment of your time. If you don’t enjoy marketing or don’t have the time to do it – outsource it to a professional. It will be the best investment you will make in your business. Even if you are going to do it yourself I recommend meeting with a consultant to set up your strategy and framework so you can be confident you are doing the right things.

There’s no getting around it – you need to do the work to get the results.

And by ‘work’ I mean set up a solid strategy. Put in place an action plan to keep implementation on track. Allocate it to one person to manage and drive your marketing. Commit to your implementation plan and put a budget in place. Schedule in time in your diary to do the tasks you need to do to get things completed. Invest in learning about latest trends. Set up systems to monitor and measure results. Delegate where you need to.

Marketing is an essential part of your business, not a nice to have. As with tending to your finances, marketing needs your constant attention to thrive.

Next in our SUGAR formula, U is all about understanding what works for your business.

Once you’re clear on your strategy, this is dead easy.

You need to understand:

• what you are doing
• why you are doing it
• who you are connecting with
• where the best places are to connect with them
• when the best time is to do it

Get a handle on these and you’ll make MUCH better decisions, spend money in the right places and get a MUCH better return on investment.

The above will form the basis for making decisions on the types of activity you’ll include in your marketing plan. And your plan should include a number of activities that support each other. You might decide to include social media, radio, letterbox drops, emails, newsletters and affiliate relationships, for example.

There isn’t a one size fits all approach with marketing. Different things work for different businesses. Understanding what reaps the rewards will pay off big time.

Following on from my previous post, if we liken your marketing to medicine for your business, it really comes down to a simple formula beginning with S for Strategy.

I’ve said it a million times and it’s still absolutely vital. You need a clear strategy for your marketing to get the best results.

In my experience, this is non-negotiable. Skip it at your peril.

Strategy gives you a clear outlook as to why you are doing things and a plan answers how you’ll do it. A sound strategy will ensure efficient and focused marketing efforts to increase profits and improve results. You’ll enjoy increased customer loyalty and satisfaction. Get a long-term, big-picture approach to success and thus avoid the majority of the mistakes that businesses make.

Spend some quality time getting clear on what you want to achieve, why, and how you’re going to make it happen. If you need some help, get it. You’ll be amazed and delighted at the difference it will make to your efforts.

If you need some help with getting started, please get in touch for an obligation-free discussion.

You may have noticed that QR (Quick Response) codes are becoming more widespread in marketing. There’s a very good reason for this – they meet the consumer’s need for immediate access to whatever they’re interested in.

QR codes are square black and white boxes, similar to barcodes. They differ in the amount of data they can hold. QR codes are two-dimensional and can provide a great deal of information. Easy to use, QR cods are very practical for small businesses to integrate into their marketing strategy to connect with consumers.

So how do they work? Consumers scan the QR code with their Smartphone and immediately link to digital content on the web. To set up your QR code takes just a few minutes and involves a simple process of entering the appropriate data into the QR code generator. There are a number of free sites for generating QR codes, simply perform a search online and select the one that works for you.

QR codes can be used in a number of ways including print media advertising, brochures or flyers, event tickets or name badges, receipts or invoices, your business card and pretty much anywhere else you can think of.

To help you get started, here’s an outline of how QR codes can be applied:

• Call to action – move your customers to get in touch, opt in to your mailing list or highlight special offers by linking your QR codes to the appropriate web links or landing pages.
• Sharing – link your QR codes to web links, social media, videos, downloads, e-books and more. There really is no limit to what you can share and it goes a long way to building your online community.
• SEO and SMO – QR codes greatly enhance your search engine and social media optimization.  Increase traffic to the searchable objects mentioned above to further optimize through encouraging more sharing.
• Build credibility – Use your growing online communities to help build your profile offline. QR codes can raise your profile by linking to your blog posts and highlight the extent of your influence and expertise.
• Measurement – QR codes usually link to an URL, so using automatic shortening services also gives you useful analytics.

Have you used QR codes as part of your marketing strategy? I’d love to know how you’ve used them and the results you’ve had so far.

There’s been quite a shift of late in the marketplace. Have you noticed it?

Take a look at the new ads of the big banks and corporations. You’ll see they are moving more towards engaging their customers through the images, colours and copy of their campaigns.

It’s all about creating a stronger and more emotional connection.

Campaigns are more customer centric – the language is all about YOU and not how great they are. The images are real life and relatable. The concepts involve things that are important to US as consumers.

One of the reasons I champion social media so much is for just this reason. When used right, social media is the ultimate way to engage your customers on many levels. It’s interesting to see more traditional methods following the key successes in their approaches.

So how can you apply this to your business?

You need to be clear on your strategy. Your marketing needs to engage and inspire your customers through straightforward language that is all about the benefits and outcomes. Craft carefully considered campaigns that  are memorable and reflect who you are as a business. If you need some further direction, contact me for a chat.