Smarter Marketing Blog

The Simplest Ways to Make the Best Use of Digital Activity

digital-activity-showing-carton-with-eggs

I read an article recently on Why You Should Outsource Digital Marketing, here. At the end of the piece, Robin Ayoub’s sign-off (quoted later) made me smile – and prompted me to write this post. Accordingly, I would like to discuss some ways to make the best of digital activity. In the main, we will look at whether businesses should be outsourcing or insourcing the online element of their marketing plans.

Allow me to point out upfront that, I don’t really like the description digital marketing because, in O’C&K, we firmly believe that marketing, in essence, has not changed. It’s just that nowadays, marketers must operate in an increasingly digital environment.

So, I’m using the term digital activity in this post in the understanding that it is an important constituent of any marketing activity. The second thing I’d like to elaborate on is what we mean by insourcing vs. outsourcing.

O’C&K – Insourcing means hiring team members in-house and outsourcing means working with an agency.

It recent times, a trend has been suggested of corporates insourcing more of their digital activity. Of course, these corporates may have specific and good reasons for doing so, including:

a) the spend on online marketing is rising and they want more supervision of it, or

b) because agency talent is moving across the divide! or

c) because as agencies have grown over the last 10/15 years they might not be nimble enough for ‘lean’ marketing departments. These departments constantly have to respond rapidly to their changing customer’s online behaviour, so flexibility is desirable.

Another point worth remembering is that digital activity is more than just advertising online. A move to an inbound strategy needs to reflect this i.e. inbound marketing is not a campaign.

I spoke with an SME (SMB) owner recently and his fear of outsourcing digital was really about outsourcing his personal relationships. He was also worried that some ‘youngster’s’ lack of commitment / knowledge in an agency might damage a long-term relationship that he had built up. Both are legitimate worries that must be attended to genuinely.

Thinking positively, though, I believe that the suggested trend might not be all bad for agencies. For me, it shows that businesses are thinking more about, and understanding, their marketing activity, be it online or offline.

Do you Insource the Chicken or Outsource the Eggs?

Robin Ayoub’s sign-off mentioned above: “Think about this: You need a dozen eggs. Do you go to the super/farmer’s market and pick up a carton, or buy a space to farm chickens and pay for all of their expenses?”

Of course, we can all see that digital is changing how we engage customers, measure marketing activity and develop strategies. Whatever the size of the business, being smarter about marketing is key and being online is part of that.

Be honest when answering this question, though, how many SMEs really have the time, experience or the resources to develop and implement their comprehensive digital marketing activity?

In such cases, and many of our own customers’ cases, outsourcing is a good way to put their toe-in-the-water. Jumping straight into building an in-house team mostly comes with a hefty price tag e.g. experience, technology and salary+.

Outsourcing to a small, flexible marketing agency can add productivity to your business team and provide measurable results.

We know that outsourcing is not opportune in all business scenarios and In a previous post on Inbound Marketing, here, we discussed the pros and cons of same. Here are a few questions again that might help you determine whether it makes sense for your business:

  • Does your marketing activity need a general overhaul anyway?
  • Do you understand online marketing but just don’t have the time to implement campaigns?
  • Do you know nothing about online marketing and want to start small and learn?
  • Do you want to scale up your existing online activity to drive business growth?

If you have answered, yes, to any of the above – you should probably outsource your digital activity. With the risk of this sounding like a business pitch, outsourcing can be a great way to get just the right expert that is already skilled at what you want to do. Your marketing capacity will increase, it will be fresher and, if applicable, your staff member looking after marketing will have the opportunity for continuous learning.

At the end of the day – as a business owner – outsourcing allows you to concentrate on growing the business, safe in the knowledge that the marketing is in good hands. An agency can help you understand where you are with your current digital activity, and strategise where you need to go with it.

Pros and Cons of Outsourcing Digital Activity

There is one simple way of determining whether you should outsource. Ask yourself – what is a core competency for my business? If digital or marketing (or both) are not – then you probably should look at bringing in this skill.

Some downsides of outsourcing are, that 1) you must be willing to trust the agency implicitly by sharing data, strategies etc. Also, if the agency is paid by the hour – the fees may add up. 2) you might not get the senior operator at the agency on an ongoing basis (alluded to above) and 3) an agency may not be as passionate about your business as you / in-house team are.

A few of the main advantages are (some mentioned above) that i) outsourcing can bring in the exact skill that you require, ii) the agency will have substitutes in case of illness etc; iii) agencies learn from other customers and can transfer their learnings and iv) agencies may well have existing platforms / IT that can be used for you without extra expense.

The decision whether to outsource or not is not an easy one because of individual businesses’ variables. It is our opinion though that quite often, due to time constraints, the decision is not even being contemplated.

Outsourcing tips and timesavers for SMEs

We predict that outsourcing will continue to be a good option, especially for SMEs, in the immediate future. With the advances in marketing tools and channels, funds can be allocated to measurable activity that will help grow the business.

Here are 5 overall benefits why we think outsourcing will be favoured over insourcing for the foreseeable future and 4 ways how a business might maximise results from doing so:

  1. Productivity increase – people are free to concentrate on core competencies
  2. Cost effective – less finance required for outsourcing and savings / cost reduction are paramount for start-ups
  3. Low risk – marketing accountability is passed on to the agency with the project
  4. Time management – outsourcing ensures measurable activity / milestones at a relatable cost
  5. Expertise – Outsourcing opens access to a range of other expertise that agencies use

Maximising the results:

  1. Treat the agency as a partner
  2. Provide the agency with very clear objectives
  3. Be passionate about the project and expect the agency to be as passionate
  4. Agree up-front whether hourly rates or a project fee suits both parties equally

Conclusion

Availed of at the right time and for the right reasons, outsourcing can provide the knowledge, and the experience, for focused marketing execution. In particular, it can provide the business nous necessary to create value and to successfully deliver upon online marketing objectives.

“Thank you for reading our blog post today” – Aidan & Jim.

 Would you like us to notify you, by email, when we publish new content? If so, just let us know by clicking here. Of course, we can always meet face-to-face, just leave your details here and we might grab a coffee, cheers. Jim – O’C&K

What If … Your Business Did Brainstorming for Innovation?

New-Invention-road-sign

This topic is an unusual one for us. It was sparked by my attending a conference recently in Dublin, called ARVR Innovate. I was intrigued listening to experts talking about how augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) will affect businesses in the future. At one stage during the day, I began to reflect on business innovation in general, especially in small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

My first thought was that, nowadays, we should all expect that innovation is coming to our industries. Once we accept that reality, the real challenge then becomes how to effect change in our business through this innovation. Thinking along practical lines, we would suggest that brainstorming with colleagues / external experts is a great exercise to approach change together.

I thought it would be worthwhile discussing, in this post, our own brainstorming experience that we’ve learnt from various customer projects.

Meanwhile, back at the conference, I briefly strayed into thinking about business models (during a break of course). And thought, “are the majority of business models today still fit for purpose?” For decades, I suppose, brands have had the same business model and have just tried to implement it better than competitors. No innovation required.

However, look what Uber, Airbnb, Coursera et al are doing to those business models – they’re ignoring them. AR and VR are probably going to produce even more opportunities for disruption. Can existing businesses not be innovative before falling prey to the ‘outsiders’?

“Yes, they can.”

In fact, they must because a business should always be looking ahead at what their customer will want in the future. If they aren’t – a more competitive business or non-industry player will do so and overtake them. The answer for businesses is not to set-up an innovation department; it is to ensure that innovation is part and parcel of everything a business does from top to bottom.

Business owners must reflect on what will drive profitability in the future and then decide how to implement change, with the help / buy-in from the team.

idea champions logo

With a hat-tip to the U.S. company ideachampions and their great article here,– to ensure a business keeps ahead of innovation an owner and his team need to start thinking outside-the-box. If one dares to do something different, the by-product should be increased energy anyway, so there would be a win-win situation.

Let’s say that a business owner realises there is a lack of internal innovation and therefore a threat from outside the industry. The first thing that they have to think about is that maybe the lack of innovation is a by-product of a fear of the unknown. Accordingly, it might not necessarily have anything to do with their actual business operation at all. If this is their only vulnerability going forward, discussing this internally or availing of external help will definitely improve this situation.

Alternatively, that vulnerability in a start-up situation might be – being afraid to fail. Brainstorming with colleagues / partners etc. will help the acceptance that failing fast brings experience that will actually build confidence and grow business authority in the long run.

The old adage of following your gut is also a very useful attitude when brainstorming innovation for your business. The next new idea probably already exists and all it needs is for you to listen to yourself (your gut) and give it structure (think like a child does i.e. with a curious and enthusiastic attitude).

Facilitating a brainstorming session

We have already alluded to situations when you might brainstorm. Of course, one doesn’t have to wait for a threat to your business to commence innovation. Other compelling reasons could be to generate new ideas or fresh approaches for your business with colleagues. It might serve to kick-start an innovative mindset in your organisation and set up a supply of new possibilities for growth. One that we really like is that it would allow for colleagues to challenge the status quo and potentially solve tough challenges (conquer fears).

Thinking outside the box might even awaken untapped genius on the team to suggest how to delight your customers in a novel way.

If you are to facilitate a brainstorming session, we’ve found that doing research beforehand is certainly a need-to-do. The more you understand what the issue is, that the participants will be trying to solve, the better the objectives that you can formulate. Based on our experience to date, during the session itself, we would suggest that you consider the following:

  • Lock the doors so that there are no distractions or interruptions.
  • Encourage interaction rather than leading the conversation yourself.
  • Keep the participants inspired by not allowing one person take over.
  • Foster even the smallest idea / thought from the floor and make all participants feel valued.
  • Keep an idea / thought going until you reach an aha moment – we love using the what if question
  • Encourage imaginations to fly and be prepared to shut down same when necessary

Some good, customer focused, discussions to be considered in a brainstorming session would be – how to get a better audience (more receptive to brand messages); discuss what the customer / donor really wants (wants are constantly shifting) and even, what do the customers fear (fear drives human behaviour)?

brainstorming-note-book

In a previous life, I distinctly remember being part of a brainstorming session facilitated by International business consultant, Valerie Pierce (her recent book is FOCUS, The Art of Clear Thinking). We were off-site in a hotel room and Valerie’s approach was unique, professional, fun and produced focused results for us as a team.

Afterwards, Valerie gave me some pointers with regard to brainstorming sessions. She highlighted that:

  • It is imperative that no ideas are censored during the session to ensure a total team effort.
  • From the outset, the session must be taken seriously and objectives agreed up front.
  • An element of fun has to be injected into the session so as to avoid individuals switching off.
  • Egos, ranks and work-related problems must be left at the door.
  • Absolutely no smart devices should be permitted and the facilitator should have a note-taker.

Tips and Timesavers for Brainstorming

The inbound marketing experts Hubspot wrote a useful guide last year on this topic titled 7 Brainstorming Tricks to Inspire Brilliant Ideas. In addition, here are 7 of our own ideas that you might find useful:

  1. Give participants relevant information on the session a few days in advance (reading material)
  2. Request that people come with some ideas already prepared
  3. If it’s just a meeting to brainstorm an issue – keep it to about 30 mins max
  4. Facilitate an environment for ‘bad ideas’ but get rid of them quickly
  5. Organise a representative sample of participants from various business disciplines
  6. Use resource constraints as opportunities rather than obstacles
  7. Provide the opportunity for anonymous submission of ideas before and after the session

Conclusion

There are many reasons outlined in this post, why a business should brainstorm. People have various views and techniques as to how sessions should be facilitated. Of all the tips above, there is one piece of advice that we would like to leave you with.

Provide participants with information on the project well in advance.

Ask them to think about it and jot down any ideas that they may have. The brainstorming session can then be used to discuss and critique all ideas equally. As a result everybody feels included and time isn’t wasted generating new ideas in what some may regard as a pressurised environment.

“Thank you for reading our blog post today” – Aidan & Jim.

 Would you like us to notify you, by email, when we publish new content? If so, just let us know by clicking here. Of course, we can always meet face-to-face, just leave your details here and we might grab a coffee, cheers. Jim – O’C&K

If You Read One Article About Marketing Trends, Read This One

marketing-trends-2016

If you haven’t done so already you are probably preparing your marketing activity for the New Year based on 2015’s marketing trends. In a once off change to our usual blog post format, we’re going to keep this post short and sweet (we hope) and in bullet point form.

We’ll have a quick look at some marketing trends that cropped up last year, then look ahead to 2016 and finish with some business resolutions to consider when planning.

Some marketing trends we noticed in 2015.

  • Blogs – nothing new really but appeared to be growing in volume, especially with B2B marketers claiming increased importance. Automated distribution was a growing feature
  • Mobile video – tools such as periscope, meerkat and vine together with channels such as Blab, Snapchat and Facebook video arose from people’s need for mobile content to share
  • Buy Now buttons – appearing on twitter and other networks started to drive social commerce
  • Messaging apps – watch this space: this is where it will all happen we believe
  • Social Media marketing – Facebook et al started to get an increased % of marketing spend
  • Digital marketing – the need for automated processes, SEM and SEO drove outsourcing
  • Content marketing – more professional approach drove the outsourcing of content creation, video production and design
  • Marketing strategy – A realisation that communications must become more professional to fight through the noise
  • Measurement – many new tools allowing the tracking and analysis of marketing results

Will these marketing trends continue to dominate in 2016?

2016- letters

As a result of the above trends, which we believe will continue,  the following will form an important part of businesses staying at the cutting edge in 2016.

  • Video – will continue to grow everywhere as part of content marketing activity, particularly if augmented reality / virtual reality experiences kick-in as expected
  • Relationship marketing – better understanding of customers will allow for increased personalisation of ads.
  • Buy buttons – there will be a proliferation of ‘buy now’ buttons which will open the door for data driven marketing
  • Ad blocking – will force businesses to be smarter about how they deliver their message
  • Storytelling – the public’s desire for authentic interactions will drive businesses to use all elements of its brand to allow customers engage with a story they want to be a part of

2016 calendar-O'C&K

Tips and Timesavers

We have 6 items for you to consider when planning for New Year resolutions for your business.

  1. A brand story – make it relevant and allow people engage with your brand essence
  2. A business plan – obtain invaluable insights from the thought process of compiling it
  3. A marketing plan – outline customer personas / audiences etc. review quarterly
  4. A digital presence – review and plan your social media and website activity monthly
  5. A revenue plan – brainstorm to discover new revenue sources / expense controls
  6. An event plan – network more to meet new clients in a most cost effective way

“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else” – Yogi Berra

2016-new-year-marketing-trends

Good luck with your resolutions and best wishes for a prosperous 2016.

“Thank you for reading our blog post today” – Aidan & Jim.

 Would you like us to notify you, by email when we publish new content? If so, just let us know by clicking here. Of course, we can always meet face-to-face, just leave your details here and we might grab a coffee, cheers. Jim – O’C&K

Why Marketing Magic is The New Black For StartUp Businesses

marketing-magic-for-startup-businesses - OC&K

Last week I attended a networking event organised by IBEC in partnership with Bank of Ireland and sponsored by Skillnets in support of the StartUp Gathering 2015.

As one might expect, I bumped into a number of people who had recently started up a business venture. At one stage while I was explaining what we in O’C&K do (outsourced marketing), I realised that it is must be hard for a non-marketing person to grasp the importance of marketing, especially if they don’t understand it.

To ensure that marketing can deliver its magic for a business, it needs to be planned for properly, in advance. That is why I thought I’d put pen to paper (so to speak) and provide some tips on startup marketing below.

It is fully understandable that many startups cannot see the ‘forest’ because they are so focused on the trees. Focusing on the immediacy of the trees is also understandable because they are tangible and provide short-term results.

Such items as planning revenue, sorting out premises, legal and compliance procedures, cash flow and IT items are usually the front-of-mind concerns, but marketing should be there as well.

A startup that doesn’t take the time to plan for customers and how to communicate with them is bound to fail. The truth is that you must look on marketing as an investment, just like all the other elements of a startup. Then it just might perform some magic for your bottom line.

Unfortunately, many founders don’t see that marketing should be an integral part of their overall strategy from day one. As a result, they only embrace it after they’ve launched, which is often too little too late and really lessens the communication’s impact.

Another condition that we encounter quite a lot is that everybody considers themselves to be a marketer. The number of times that I have heard – ‘oh my partner / friend / family / neighbour had some great ideas for publicity so we don’t need to hire anybody’ – is staggering.

When these ‘ideas’ don’t work people then consider marketing a time-suck and a waste of money. So they put it further down the to-do list or worse still, ignore it altogether. They start relying on the features of the product / service for marketing purposes. The ‘build it and they will come’ mentality.

The only advice that I can give, if you’re not employing a marketing professional, is to consider (or better still – involve), your potential audience at each development stage and start thinking about a marketing strategy from the moment you have that great idea.

Initial tactics that startups can use to bring in customers.

In fairness, most startups appreciate that they will need marketing at some stage, but as mentioned above it can end up low on the ‘to-do’ list, for all sorts of reasons. The main reasons appear to be time, money and lack of experience. Here are some thoughts that might help overcome those challenges, initially.

  • Despite what some bloggers say – email is not dead. It is a very effective method of engaging an audience in a direct and measurable way. There are many free services available (such as MailChimp), with which you can automate newsletters etc.
  • Social media is another way of attracting customers. If possible, allocate even half an hour a day on a channel where your prospects are conversing. Many communities on social media form free local networking groups (e.g. dubnet). These can work to collect leads, build awareness and learn from peers.
  • See our post here, about good networking habits.
  • How about looking around for marketing opportunities by creating a joint campaign with a complimentary business e.g. hotel / sports club, gym / spa, theatre / media outlet, beautician / hairdresser, SEO / web design, recruitment / printer etc.
  • This one goes without saying – it is imperative that you have a user-friendly website.
  • Finally, you could look at doing a small direct mail campaign in your area, sponsor an element of a local event or advertise in community newsletters.

If you don’t have time for any of these elements, you really should get help from the ‘outside’, as early as possible. Have a look at some services listed on our website, to get an idea of what areas you should be thinking about.

Tips and Timesavers.

There are no magic bullets of course but in order to avoid being a startup casualty, try and plan for the following from the get-go:

  • Use a revenue goal to measure your business – over a two year period.
  • Go after the small and easy prospects first – generate up-front cash.
  • Decide how you will be different from any competitor – avoid sameness.
  • Don’t undertake new things that aren’t on your to-do list (plan) – stay focused.
  • Be willing to change based on customer experience – be flexible.

To use a rugby analogy – earn the right to go wide i.e. don’t be distracted by long-term prospects – focus on the first two years and earn the right to survive.

Now that your business is up and running and you want to move your startup to the next level of business communication, consider formalising these 7 elements:

  1. Branding – your brand identity says a lot about you. Your name, logo, a tagline should back-up your brand promise, remember – first impressions count.
  2. Marketing communication – fliers, brochures, business cards, packaging, signs (including online) etc. all reflect your business professionalism.
  3. Channels of communication – can your customer contact you in a way that they prefer? e.g. mobile phone, email, postal address, skype, google hangouts and face-to-face.
  4. Online presence – your website is often the only place that a customer engages with your brand. They should have an excellent user experience at all times.
  5. Social Media – work is required to find out where your actual prospects are, when they are there and what’s important to them.
  6. Blogging – helps SEO, delivery of value to customers / prospects and is a way of embedding your brand story in people’s lives.
  7. Marketing campaign – a short, flexible and simple campaign using online and offline channels for promoting your business should always be measurable Professional help will probably be required with this element.

 Conclusion.

When it comes to using magic to bring your ‘wonderful idea’ into reality you need to start by determining exactly who your audience is and what matters to them. Thereafter, effective marketing will build a structure for relationships to be created and nurtured in order to ensure business opportunities in due course. And that would be magic.

“Thank you for reading our blog post today” – Aidan & Jim.

 Would you like us to notify you, by email when we publish new content? If so, just let us know by clicking here. Of course, we can always meet face-to-face, just leave your details here and we might grab a coffee, cheers. Jim – O’C&K

6 Important Steps to Remain Focused on the Customer Experience You Promised.

Offering customer experience on a plate

Guess what? Your customer is not focused on your current period sales and costs figures. Nope, all they’re interested in is having the experience they anticipated because of your promise.

The trouble with this dichotomy is that delivering a brilliant customer experience is not always reflected in current sales figures. Therefore, focus on the experience can take second stage to short-term gain. In this scenario, we tend to ignore the fact that a when a customer talks about our brand / their experience to others, it can reflect a cash effect, at some stage in the future.

As a result, many of us don’t spend enough time determining our true customer base, providing an excellent experience and encouraging them to ‘spread the word’. If we don’t know who our customers are – how can we engage with them.

Customers are bombarded with information every day.

Technology enhanced connectivity means that our prospective, and actual, customers are inundated with business messages every minute of the day. As a result, we need to be much more focused and specific with our marketing activity if we are to engage with the right people. Otherwise, our efforts will be totally ineffective and thereby a waste of money.

If, as the experts say, that <6% of prospects are ready to buy your service right now – businesses really need to start thinking about nurturing people over a longer period. The real challenge, for marketers, therefore is being able to nurture people based on their emotions. Simple demographics are still important but need to be enhanced by knowing a prospect’s likes, dislikes, frustrations and aspirations.

One way we have successfully identified our target audience is by outlining our ideal clients, up front. Everybody uses the basic demographic factors such as type of industry, company, gender, income range, location etc. but there’s more to it than that.

We have come to find that personal factors have a large part to play in a successful relationship. Have a think about what characteristics or traits that your ideal customers have in common – with you. If you don’t like them up front, a successful relationship will probably never develop.

Other areas you can inveigle them to share over time are their emotional triggers. When you know a person’s frustrations or problems you can address them. Of course your work will be focused on helping to alleviate these but in addition, your marketing message can be also be centred on solving these emotional needs.

Everybody has a decision-making journey they go through – if you can engage with them along this journey, they should connect with your message. By genuinely empathising with them, they will consider you as a trusted advisor and one that they feel safe with while recommending you to others.

3 ways to help enhance the customer experience.

– Be a part of their online search results – you have often read the statistic that a customer is often 80% through the decision process before considering your service. Due mainly to online search capabilities this means that businesses have to become part of that first 80% of the process because it is more difficult to stand out, in the last 20%. Be it paid, owned or earned – you must offer an online experience.

– Have excellent response times – have you noticed how impatient we are all getting? We know attention span is mentioned in business articles a lot nowadays. This is all well and good, but we really believe that the ‘new’ customer service is online and that responses are expected, probably within 20 minutes. Personally, if I’m promised a response within 24 hours – I’m gone, as a customer. Have a read of our opening paragraph again.

– Build word-of-mouth activity – we’ve alluded to the issue of trust already but it’s worth mentioning it again. It is no secret that most of us will follow the recommendations of a trusted family member, friend, colleague etc. It follows therefore that word-of-mouth is still alive and kicking in this day of social networking. Businesses, building social communities online are not a fad – it has become a necessity.

Observe your customer’s behaviour.

Developing a target market for your business requires maintaining a focus on specifics. Here are six steps we recommend you incorporate into providing an excellent customer experience to the right people.

Tips and Timesavers.

  1. Determine what the average customer spends on your service. This can be by the hour, the week, by project or annually. When you have an average you can determine what customers / type spend more than the average by their demographics. Your focus should be on these people.
  2. Engage your customers with a simple survey. Find out where they hear about / buy from you. When they buy, why they choose you above competitors – is it because of convenience, location, CSR etc. Are they responding to cold calls, online ads, and referrals from friends etc?
  3. Track why you have returning customers. Are they renewing / returning because of customer service, needs based, a special offer, relationship etc. Are they staying with you because of your product / service range?
  4. Be aware of what marketing channels are delivering effective communication with each group. Find out where your above average customers are interacting with each other and be part of that conversation.
  5. Develop a referral / loyalty programme to reward customers that introduce new prospects.
  6. Create a network of trusted suppliers. Link up with other businesses that will complement your offerings or add value to your service.

Conclusion.

Getting to know your above-average customer in detail is the only way in which you can find them and make them happy. You really need to know what’s important to them and what will keep them coming back for more.

Remember, not everybody will be a prospect, no matter what you offer – but that’s fine if you’re providing your existing customers with an excellent experience.

“We hope you have enjoyed our marketing tips and timesavers blog” – Aidan & Jim.

Would you like us to notify you, by email when we publish new content? If so, just let us know by clicking here. Of course, we can always meet face-to-face, just leave your details here and we might grab a coffee, cheers.   Jim – O’C&K