Marketing on a Beermatwith Chris West

What kind of Business are you?

• Products or services• Selling to the public or to organizations?• If the latter, are they big or small?• Do your customers have to visit you, or do you

‘deliver’ to them?

• How big?• How old?

What is Marketing?

Not• Spending a fortune• Lying about your products

It is• Selling the right products at the right prices to the right

people in the right way

Marketing and sales:• Marketing creates the context in which sales take place

The Three Aspects of Marketing

• Strategy• Intelligence• Communication

Other people make other ‘splits’• Kotler’s 4P model. (Product, price, promotion,

place)

The Marketing Mindset 1• Know your customers– Think and feel from their point of view

• Remember they are rational– Given what they think they need…– And what you have told them about your

product…– They always make a good decision

• A structured response

The Marketing Mindset 2

• Concern for a win / win outcome– Customers get benefits they value– You get profits

• Current mess caused by finance mindset overriding marketing one

Five Questions

1. What’s the pain?

2. Who for?

3. What are you going to do about it?

4. Why should people switch to you?

5. Says who?

Pain1. What’s the pain?– Time, money, effort– Can you quantify it?

2. Who for? (Your target market)

– Where, among the places where the pain is severe…

– can we reach customers easily…– and be maximally effective?

Products

3. What are we going to do about that pain?

Clearly defined and priced bundles of benefit that you sell repeatably and profitably

Positioning

4. Why should people in our target market switch to us from their existing supplier?

• ‘Give me one good reason why I should buy from you!”

• USP and positioning• Branding

Credibility

(“Oh yeah?”) Doesn’t begin with P!

• Endorsements• Referrals• Case Studies

Elevator Pitch

We help………….

Who have a problem with………..

By…………

We’re special because………

And you can believe me because……

Positioning 2

• A systematic look at your competition, and why you are different from each one of them

• Draw a ‘market map’…• …or rather several market maps

ProductsClearly defined

The customer knows what they are getting… and priced

…And how much they will pay for itBundles

Can be more than one – but one is enoughof benefit

Not features!that you sell repeatably

Over and over again and profitably.

Features, Benefits, Value and Price• Every product has hundreds of features– “So what?”

• Benefits are what actually solves customer pain– Think time, money or effort – Can be ‘fun’ for consumers

• Value relates to benefit

• People pay for value, so value controls price – Good marketing supports price by demonstrating value

Pricing

• What is the market currently paying to solve the pain?

• Why should they pay more?

• Price points

• Platinum, gold, silver

Product Range

• Old faithful

• Taster

• Premium product

• New product on its way

‘Whole products’

Customers want pain solved, not ‘things’Make sure the product includes• Training in how to use it• Continuing ‘hand-holding’• Guarantees• Upgrades that continue to represent value

(rather than just rip off captive customers)

Product Adoption CycleEnthusiasts• Love the tech, will help build, want it freeEarly adopters• See tech as new solution to old problem, will pay but want it

customizedEarly majority• Will pile in in big numbers once they know what the product

does, costs etc.Late majority• Wait for market leaderLaggards• Over my dead body! (Hide the tech in something else)

‘The Chasm’… between early adopters and early majority. Early

majority…

• Demand more reliability• Corporate style• Pay less• Listen to different opinion formers

Conquer a beachhead market, show how good you are, and expand out from there

Research

• Be a nerd!– Much more easily done with a partner

• Market wisdom– two years? to acquire

• Keep learning– Companies can ‘go off the boil’

• ? Best use of social media– know your customers

Ways to research

Desk research• Online• Trade magazines

Talk to people• Structured interviews – ‘Can I have 30 minutes of

your time, please?’• Trade events• General networking

Don’t sell, learn!

Your customers (current and potential)

• What are the five biggest issues facing them?

Brand and Branding• Brand– The essence of who you are– Links to USP and positioning

• Branding– The expression of this through various media

• Love your brand, but don’t loose too much sleep over branding

For many small Service Businesses…• You are the brand!– The You-SP

• So take it out there– Name– Networking, on- and off-line– Establish expertise

• If you want to sell the business, you must change this!

More important than brand…

• Reputation• Reputation• Reputation

‘Routes to market’

• Or rather, customers’ routes to you!• Loads of ways people can buy• What is standard in your market?• Are you going to change that or stick to the

existing model?• Make it easy for the customer to buy• Make it fun for the customer to buy

Some popular routes• Sales force• Retail• Online

– eCommerce– eBay

• ‘Bundled in’– Hidden part of someone else’s offer

• Agents and distributors– Beware channel conflict

• Franchising• Multi-level marketing

– Poor reputation

Strategic Allies• Great way for a small business to get started• “How can I improve your offer?”• Can also be small company– Cross referral– Joint promotion

• You must be realistic• Empathy • Start slowly – can be hard to unwind

Starting to talk to the market• Don’t do this too early• ‘Beermat’ method: test and refine products

first• Then…– Name (company and domain)– Business card / stationery– Website– House style– (Possibly) logo

The Three Questions of Market Communication

• Who do you want to talk to?

• What do you want them to do?

• How will you gather evidence that they have done it?

Traditional communication methods

• Business card and stationery• Brochures – Have a ‘leave-behind’

• PR• Advertising• Direct mail• Catalogues• Trade fairs

Basic rules of PR

• Target!

• Be realistic

• Create News

• Measure

PR

• Can be free!

• Think local and trade, not national

• Get material professionally written

• Get to know journalists

Case Studies• Classic ‘story shape’ – beginning, middle and

end– Customer with problems– You come in and solve (complications?)– Happy end

• Work them out with your favourite customer• Put them on your website• Use them for PR– Especially if quirky

Making News

• Case Studies• Surveys• Events• Awards• Sponsorship• Stunts (?)• Link to ‘National Days’• Charitable work and health issues

Press Releases

• Header – grabs attention• Information• Expand on the information• A quote• Contact details

How not to do a press release

New therapy practice in MiddletownElspeth Scott has a Level 3 Diploma in aromatherapy,

which she gained at Middletown College of Further Education. She is also trained to level 2 in massage.

She is now offering aromatherapy treatment for a range of health and psychological problems.

She says: “I want to create the best possible experience for my customers.”

Contact her on…

AdvertisingAre you sure you can’t PR it?

• Heading– ‘selects audience and promises benefit’

• Call to action– Not just ‘Coo-ee’

• AIDA• Test rigorously

Direct Mail

• Most important factor is the list• Test the list• Expect low response rate…• …But it’s cheap and predictable• Works particularly well in some areas– Charities– Collectables

Your Website• Basic role – “Who are you, again?”

– An online brochure– Have address on all your materials

• A tool for establishing credibility– Case studies, expert hints etc.– Podcasts and video

• A research tool– Collect email addresses– Reader comments on materials

• A sales outlet – full-on ecommerce

Search Engine Optimization

• Getting your site ranked on Google• Two ‘pillars’– Keyword-based Text– Quality inbound links

• You can do a bit of this…• …But serious SEO is a job for a professional

Email Marketing

• Gather email addresses and basic details– Collect cards at events– Have a give-away online

• Keep in touch with these people online– Occasional ‘nudge’– Newsletter (must be interesting!)– They can always unsubscribe

Blogging• Best if you have strong, controversial views on

industry topics and can write well

• Either do it well or don’t bother

• Takes up time– So you’d better enjoy it

• Now a well-understood marketing tool

Videos• Informative or funny• Don’t need brilliant production• Put them up on YouTube– Link to your site

• Promote them – But don’t distract from key message

• ‘Going viral’– A bit of a dream

GoogleAds

• A marketer’s dream– Targeted– Measurable– Ideal outcome – “It costs £8 to get a new

customer” – is possible.

• Can turn into a nightmare– Get a pro to run your campaign

• Not a magic bullet for everyone.

Networking

• On and off-line– Facebook, twitter– Mike will talk more about this

• Follow your customers– If they twitter, get twittering

• Enjoy it!– If you hate it, don’t do it

A caveat…

• Lots of ‘Social network’ marketing is fun• But – bewildering set of choices– What’s the single most useful new thing I could do

to boost my marketing?

• Remember basic questions– Are you talking to the right people?– Are you sending the right message?– Is it an effective use of your valuable time?

The Value of Existing Customers• 6x as hard to get a new one as to sell to an

existing one

• Never stop learning about them– CRM– Talk to them!– Follow them on twitter etc.

• Segment into three archetypes– Top 20%– Mid-range– Loss-makers

Your top flight customers

• Who are your top 20%?

• What are you going to do to make them happy?

• How often do you talk to them?

• What referrals and endorsements are they giving you?

And the other levels?

• Your mid-range customers– Can you ‘upgrade’ them?

• Have you any customers who lose you money and whom you don’t like?

Marketing initiatives

• Plan each one• Two essential types– ‘Drip of publicity’– One off ‘Campaigns’

• Set ‘SMART’ targets…• …And measure them!

For every campaign

• Campaign• Who to• What we offer• When• Budget• Expected result

• Actual result

Marketing and the Recession

• It won’t last forever

• Research shows that businesses that hibernate find it hard to catch up

• Make all your marketing work hard

• Enjoy your marketing

To conclude…

• What are the three biggest lessons I have learnt from this session?

• What three things am I going to do differently tomorrow?

Any questions?

Thanks for your timeGood luck with your marketing

Do email me on chris@beermat.biz