Help your agency help you

It’s no good complaining to your agency about a failed campaign unless you can be sure you gave them or allowed them to obtain all the information required to develop the right creative message.

To achieve this you must develop a comprehensive brief that includes the following.

• Your campaign objectives – is this brand awareness, increased market share etc.
• Your target market – you should have done market research before now that describes who your market is, what they buy, how they reach purchasing decisions.
• What is your products USP (Unique Selling Point or Proposition) – Why should it be purchased above a competitor, what makes it new
• Your core message – what you are offering the customer – further information, a chance to sample, special offers
• Your call to action – How you want potential customers to respond – request information, call a telephone line, go to your website
• Media – where your message is going to be delivered. More reasons to have conducted research
• What supporting activities will be required – point of sale, telemarketing, exhibitions

This is vital information that will help creatives approach the job in a logical way, ensuring all the relevant facts are taken into account and that the copy and creative ideas fit the task.

A brief of this nature is vital whether you are using outside suppliers or your own in house team.

For further information or for a free one hour review of your current marketing, text your name or call 07790 012893

email david@dlhmarketing.co.uk   www.dlhmarketing.co.uk

Could a lack of germs kill us?

Is the human race is in danger of creating and marketing products designed to save us but that could end up killing us?

The UK is currently going through a period of paranoia where modern homes have become havens of cleanliness and anti bacteria. However, in our rush to develop and market these products are we in danger of creating a race that has little or no natural defences. We already read about children whose parents are terrified of them getting dirty and are now becoming immune to the benefits of antibiotics.

 As boy in the 50′s and 60′s I remember getting thoroughly filthy and often inadvertantly eating the dirt and yet suffered no ill affects despite only using soap and water to wash. Today we have products covering all areas of homes and clothing that will kill 99.9% of germs so our body no longer has to do it. The latest is a soap dispenser we do not even have to touch. We just put our hands under and hey presto out the liquid germ killer plops.

I’m not saying that there isn’t a place for some of these products but the natural progression is to have no direct contact with anything or anyone unless they have been sterilised because our bodies will no longer have the ability to look after themselves.

For marketing support text your name or call 07790 012893

www.dlhmarketing.co.uk

Do you talk at your customers or to them?

For Free marketing tips and information sheets www.dlhmarketing.co.uk

The importance of Market Research

Whether you run a hairdressing salon or a garage, knowing your customers is vital to the life of your business. Learning about them can help you target your marketing and ensure you are providing the product or service they will buy. Market Reseach doesn’t have to expensive and the money spent can be repaid several times over.

• When you know who wants your product/service you can specifically target them rather than waste money trying to reach everyone. Save money and increase sales
• Research techniques such as interviews and questionnaires will help you find out what your customers want and what they may be interested in buying in the future. You save money by not bringing in products that won’t sell
• Gain as much information from your customers as you can. What are their favourite products, what do they like or dislike about your offering? Find out their ages, gender, dates of birth etc. This way you can target specific messages to them via email or direct mail
• Collect information about the reasons your customers buy certain products above others. Knowing why someone buys something means you will know how and what to sell
• Finally, do they buy particular products at certain times of year. You may find you can introduce new products to coincide with buying patterns.

For help contact DLH Marketing. Text your name or call 07790 012893. email david@dlhmarketing.co.uk

When was the last time you held a brainstorming session?

An important tool in your marketing kit.

Every business owner has a good idea of the wealth of talent housed within their organisation. But how many actually utilise that talent outside its normal job description?

Brainstorming is great way to bring that talent to the fore because the most effective brainstorming sessions are made up not only of the core development team but also of people who may not have any knowledge or experience of the product or service being developed.

Just as it is wise not to include direct team members in a session, it is also important to use an independent facilitator. This chairperson can encourage free ideas without having any political agenda.

The following are some guidelines that will encourage the flow of ideas to flourish.

1. no-one should pass judgement on other contributors ideas
2. all members are considered equal whatever their postion within the organisation (leave job titles at the door)
3. the more way-out the idea the better
4. members should be encouraged to have fun and thereby break down barriers
5. don’t try a methodical approach, think laterally
6. choose an environment that will encourage free thinking
7. restrict the number taking part in any one group to around 14
8. you are looking for a long list of ideas whether they appear good or bad
9. do not pre judge any ideas, add them all to the list
10. do not let any individual ask leading or intimidating questions

Once you have your long list you can then look at a rationalisation and evaluation process, this should include a number of the more off-the-wall ideas. this will then form your basis for whittling down further.

For more information or a free review of your present marketing text your name or call 07790 012893

www.dlhmarketing.co.uk

One of the organisations I recently starting working with has happily been producing communications and marketing material about which feedback suggested was doing a good job. The problem was that no-one had ever really analysed where the feedback was coming from.

As part of a funding audit, I prepared and conducted some market research amongst all the groups that could or did utilise the service and the results were very illuminating. You see, the feedback had always came from larger groups who often used the service and consequently there were more involved and their opinions were  regularly taken on board.

My client assumed that everyone felt the same way.

The research however, showed that there was a large group of people who felt totally disenfranchised and new little about what was going on. We discovered that there  was a growing feeling of resentmant amongst the very groups my client was supposed to support.

Needless to say that this has resulted in a complete overhall of the communication methods and processes ensuring that everyone has a chance to be heard.

This example is based around a support service but applies to any business and organisation. Stand back and ask yourself if you actually know what your customer wants or are you really only assuming you know. Simple market research can make a tremendous difference in helping you get more business.

Get in touch by calling or texting your name to 07790 012893

Alternatively email me david@dlhmarketing.co.uk  

This morning it was reported that Apple Corp. had made £3billion during the past three months. This was despite teething problems and some negative press on the iPhone 4. It got me thinking about how this was achieved and how easily could other, smaller organisations replicate it.

Obviously there are several reasons but what Apple do better than almost anyone else is not provide products we want but products we are willing to pay for.

We all want a mobile phone that works, is user friendly, gives us freedom and looks good. However, with hundreds of models on the market Apple have created a product that many people will pay 2, 3, 4 times as much for to own.

Take a look at your product and  talk to your customers and prospective customers, decide what makes it stand out. We can all provide want the customer wants but are you providing what they will pay for?

www.dlhmarketing.co.uk

Taken fron directnews,co.uk

A new report has revealed that Britons prefer natural search results to paid-for ads – potentially outlining why firms should engage in search engine optimisation.

The Search Attitudes survey conducted by YouGov for Tamar found that most consumers see organic listings as more trustworthy when researching products and brands than pay-per-click ads, with older web users the most likely to hold this belief.

It also indicated that almost half of 18 to 24-year-olds make use of real-time search results from social networks like Twitter, while mobile search is also on the rise.

When it comes to making purchases, reviews and images are becoming increasingly popular among consumers requiring more information about products and retailers.

“Consumers have matured in the past four years in their relationship with search and the one constant progression that the Search Attitudes Report series clearly identifies is the growth in awareness of the differences between natural and paid search,” said Tamar search director Neil Jackson.

Google is the most popular search engine in the UK, with the site accounting for about 91 per cent of the market through both google.co.uk and google.com, according to Experian Hitwise.

Bing is second with 3.25 per cent of searches, followed by Yahoo! on 2.83 per cent.

Interested in having a DirectNews news feed on your website?

www.dlhmarketing.co.uk

Marketing tip for Friday

If you keep your staff happy, they will keep your customers happy and your customers will come back.

SERVICE, SERVICE, SERVICE

During a shopping trip last weekend my daughter was looking for a handbag that would match a pair of shoes she was wearing for a wedding. Easy you would think! Unfortunately the task proved more diffilcult than she had hoped. However, more frustrating was the assistance, or lack of it from the majority of the stores she went into. Either the assistants were more concerned with discussing the coming evening or they weren’t aware of the stock the store carried or couldn’t be bothered to look any further than the shelves. Basically, they couldn’t be bothered, that is except one where the assistant went out of her way to help. Not only looking at her own section but discussing the requirement with other sections until eventually the perfect bag was found at a not inconsiderable price.

As is the case these days, between shops, my daughter was texting her various friends and recalling the experience in each shop. Needless to say the shop and assistant that provided the help got a great sale and some free publicity whereas the others, well…

Secret customer programmes from www.dlhmarketing.co.uk