This document provides an overview of key marketing concepts and best practices. It discusses the importance of having a clear brand and target audience. The document also outlines different marketing tactics ("sheepdogs") like direct mail, advertising, social media, and public relations. Throughout, it includes quotes from marketing experts about topics like branding, advertising, and differentiating yourself in the market. The document concludes by providing contact information for the author to learn more.

1. Everything you wanted to know about
marketing but were afraid to ask
Jane Buswell
October 2010

2. What they say about marketing
“Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make
it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read.”
Leo Burnett
"Marketing is not an event, but a process
. . . it has a beginning, a middle, but never
an end, for it is a process. You improve it,
perfect it, change it, even pause it. But
you never stop it completely.’’
Jay Conrad Levinson

3. When is an opera not an opera…
…when it is AIDA
ATTENTION
INTEREST
DESIRE
ACTION

4. How do you want to come across
as a company?
Brand - according to the Chartered
Institute of Marketing:
“Brands matter to every company
because what they capture is distinctive.
This is the primary source of your
competitive advantage and the ability to
create value.”
CONSISTENT AND CONTINUAL

5. What they say about brand
“It is a pretty recognizable brand name.
Originally it was ‘Jerry's Guide to the
World Wide Web’ but we settled on
‘Yahoo’.’’ Jerry Yang
“If this business were split up, I would give you the
land and bricks and mortar, and I would take the
brands and trademarks, and I would fare better than
you.”
John Stuart, former CEO of Quaker Oats

6. Core Values - choose 5
this is what you believe in and
how you think your business
should be conducted

7. Target Audience
Who are you aiming at?
Holidaymakers or Housewives?
Taxidermists or Tax Inspectors?
Painters or Publicans?
Artists or Accountants?
Where do you want to work?
What size of company do they need to be?
Why would they need you? (WIIFM)
What do you know about them?

8. What they say about target audience
"The aim of marketing is to know and
understand the customer so well the
product or service fits him and sells
itself."
Peter F. Drucker

9. Effective communication with
your target audience
•understand them
•empathise with them
•get them to empathise with you
THEN HELP YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE TO
•see the merit of your argument
•associate themselves with it
•have their ego affirmed by it
WIIFM – what’s in it for me?

10. Headlines – which are more likely to
appeal?
Simpson Fire Alarms - your guarantee of
safety
OR
Is your family's life worth the price of a
round of drinks?

11. Identifying benefits that really work
Make a list of your features
Are they REALLY meaningful
Which means that in terms of your
target audience
What’s in it for me gets to the
emotional root

12. What creates DESIRE?
Often a special offer or a promotion: this could be
Added value: with affiliates
Date deliminated offer
Something free - from p & p to your advice
Sliding discounts – the more you take the more you
save
Reward – gift voucher or recognition
One off opportunity…

13. ACTION:
•Expect your call in the next few days
•Enter a competition
•Take part in a survey
•Book online
•Send for information
•Look at your website
•Introduce a friend
•Sign up for a newsletter

14. Marketing Tactics (Sheepdogs)
-Direct Mail -PR
-Door drops -Direct Sales
-Advertising -Putting in a bid/proposal
-Newsletters -Telephone marketing
-Creating a website -Strategic Alliances
-Email marketing -SMS messaging
-Signage -Exhibiting
-Presentations -Workshops
-Networking

15. Do’s and Don’ts of Social Networking
• Will your “virtual client” actually be
looking at these vehicles?
• Don’t communicate thoughtlessly
• Keep your brand congruent
• Headlines are important for blog posts
too

16. Differentiating yourself – strengths
•Make sure you mention your company
strengths
•This might include good client names;
innovative product; experience in an
industry; etc
•It might include comments or testimonials
made by your customers – a good question
to ask them if you have a customer feedback
form is – why did you use us?

17. “unlike other companies we…..”
“Marketing is the art of
meaningful differentiation.”
John Lederer

18. What they say about advertising
“A good ad should be like a good
sermon: It must not only comfort the
afflicted, it also must afflict the
comfortable.’’
Bernice Fitz-Gibbon
“Doing business without advertising is
like winking at a girl in the dark. You
know what you are doing, but nobody
else does.”
Steuart Henderson Britt

19. A bit of advice about advertising
• Don’t advertise on a left hand page
• With regard to negotiating favourable
advertising rates - the closer to the
deadline you can book your ad the better
• Don’t advertise somewhere just because
your competition is doing so – you may all
be spending money for nothing!
• Measure and monitor your advertising

20. A bit about PR
• The best publications to aim for are the
ones your target audience is going to
read!
• Ask for a forward features list from the
editor
• Ask how many words of copy they
would like
• Ask when their copy deadline is
• Ask how they would like you to submit
your article

21. In Summary
“What is written without effort is in
general read without pleasure!”
Samuel Johnson
If it sounds disjointed when you read it
aloud
– it is!

22. For more information:
janebuswell@businessfulcrum.co.uk
07966 155518
Presentation available to download from:
www.businesslinksw.co.uk/eventspresentations
Follow my blog
http://businessfulcrum.blogspot.com
www.businesslink.gov.uk/southwest