Let Us Get Round to the Marketing For You

How many times have you tried to tackle your own marketing and ended up giving up after 10 minutes because something else in your business required your attention more? Don’t worry, you’re not alone.

Sometimes it can feel impossible to find the time to start an email campaign, or send off those leaflets that are now covered in an inch of dust on your desk, or even check on those ads you’ve had running in the background for months on end…

The point is, you’re good at running your business but we're good at marketing… so let’s join forces.

Don’t forget to plan time for marketing

In light of February being National Time Management Month, we thought this is the ideal opportunity for you to assess what’s going on in your business and plan in some time for marketing. As we do this all day every day, we know how much time this can take up, time you may not have yourself.

We know after years in the business that rushed marketing is very unlikely to be successful. Successful marketing that gets results takes time, experience and knowledge- luckily, that’s something we have plenty of! Don’t let your marketing take a back seat in 2021, why not let us take care of it whilst you focus on the things your business requires from you.

The Marketing People, three stage process to marketing. Step 1, pre-marketing

Our strategy

Over the years, we have developed a strategy to help clients identify the best way to use their marketing and budget. This comes as a part of our three-stage process. One fundamental step, but often the most forgotten step, is pre-marketing. If you don’t already know about our three marketing stages, check out this video from our Managing Director, David Mitchell (FCIM), where he simply explains how pre-marketing can stop you from wasting money on marketing that doesn’t work.

So, before you print those thousands of leaflets, or hit publish on your Google Ads, just take a second and think; “Why am I saying this message? Am I directing my customers to the right place to convert? And, is this what my target audience need or want to see in order to convert?” They can be hard questions to answer, we know.

A positive change for your business

There is a lot of change going on in the world right now, so why not turn this change into a positive one for you and your business. We can help you take a step back and look at your business goals and direction to ensure your branding and positioning is appropriate for the market you’re in. This will help you to utilise your budget effectively and engage in marketing that works.

We know marketing may not be your top priority, but it should be one of your business’s priorities. Let us take the job off your hands and see what growth we could make for your business.

Working with you to improve your business

If this sounds like something of value to you, get in touch and we can organise a free, no-obligation meeting to discuss how we can help you.

Digital Marketing Live – The Cost of Free Design

the cost of free design

As a part of our Digital Marketing Tuesday series, Pete and David recently went live and discussed The Cost of Free Design. If you couldn’t tune in live on Tuesday don’t worry, here’s a rundown of everything you missed.


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“If it’s free design it means you’ll probably like it because it’s just what you thought you wanted, but it might not be what’s needed. It’s worth a little investment sometimes figuring out that message first and then designing effectively across any touchpoint.”

 

(DAVID) Good afternoon everybody, David from The Marketing People here, and you probably already know Pete our Digital Marketing Manager too. We’re not going to take too much of your time because it’s the run-up to Christmas and everyone’s pretty busy, so we’re just jumping on the live stream quickly to discuss the cost of free design.

 

(PETE) It’s a topic that can take us a day and a half full of presentations to discuss, but really, we wanted to give people food for thought, that’s why I’ve invited you [David] on today to give a deeper depth of the conversation. We talk to businesses all day every day and they’re all saying, “can you do us a free design?”. Now in my past life, I ran a leaflet distribution company, and we used to get this all the time. I wanted to invite you on today David to really talk about what is the true cost of free design?

 

(DAVID) Before we start, I must mention the shirt I’m wearing. Apparently, we got a lot of feedback and comments about the shirts I wear, and after you all choosing which one I should wear for the next live video, the pug one won! This is a pretty good choice, and it’s a pretty good design I hasten to add. Thank you to those that got in touch and requested and voted for the different shirts, this is the shirt that won.

But onto free design, it’s not just concerning print. Most people think free design comes with just print but over the years and more prominently now, it is actually across all touchpoints. The cost of free design? Monetary… zero. On outlay… zero. Let’s say you’re having leaflets produced, which can get distributed, handed out, put in invoice letters, or whatever you’re going to do. For the message that’s going to go on there, you’ll sit down taking your time to figure out what it is you need to say and focus on with this leaflet. You’ll think about all the important points and advertise what you’re really good at, and take all this information to the printers. The print designers will collate all your content and logo, and stick it all on the leaflet, as best they can.pete and david discussing the true cost of free design

Once printed, you’ll look at it and think “yes, that’s exactly what I asked for and they’ve put all the things that I wanted on there.” You may end up not getting the results you wanted from the leaflet and the time you spent giving that information to the printer and the ‘free time’ they took to put it on that paper actually could do more harm than good. The message might not be the right message, sometimes if you’re not careful you turn people off that were already working with you, because they’ll realise what you’re saying on this leaflet isn’t really what they previously thought of your business.

We’ve seen this happen before, and recently we have just worked with a UK national Association as they sent an advertisement brief to a large publication company and it came back, and it was nothing like the message or the structure they wanted to put across. They then asked us to design the advertisement and send it off to the publication using their specifications.

As Pete said, across anything, whether it’s a digital ad, a printed leaflet, an advert in a publication, or an advert online, even down to your website. The cost of free design is actually more cost-effective if you have it designed with the correct messaging.

I’m not going to sell our services, that’s not what these things are about, it’s to bring to you and highlight that thought process. People have had free design done, and then realised what you can have designed for you at a small cost have realised it’s worthwhile the small investment to get the right message, to get the right visual aspect across. Sometimes less is more as it is on digital ads, isn’t that right Pete? If you try and cram too much in what happens?

 

(PETE) Absolutely, you can say too much, and this is a journey. The leaflet that your potential or current customers have seen- that’s one touchpoint, that’s one of many that you can have out there and if you’re going down the free route all the time and being persuaded by free design it can be damaging for your brand messaging.

I’ve got case studies from years ago, a roofing company that we ran the leaflet drop for down in Solihull. Their leaflet was just put together on the back of a coaster by a big national company and it ended up costing them a couple of thousand pounds because they lost customers.

 

(DAVID) Also, you can give a mixed message, sometimes you’ll find that on some of these elements you’re trying to ask too many things in one go. Be specific when you’re doing digital ads, you need to have one specific thing that you’re targeting, not an overall because people want to know what it is that you’re offering, and they can get in touch. Then they get back to your website or give you a call depending on what the call to action is, then you can cross-sell and upsell. Targeting the right message for the right type of person, knowing who your market is, knowing what you want them to do, but of course, you’re going to make sure you get that message right and that takes some clever design. It’s got to be engaging and appealing, it’s got to attract them and engage them to do what you want and make them think it was their idea.

We’ve seen and spoken about examples where free design can give the wrong impression if the design company doesn’t understand your particular business.

 

(PETE) I was going to ask, David, you could go to a web design company, printing company, or signage company and they will happily design something for you, but from our perspective, how would we approach something like that?

 

the marketing people discuss the true cos of free design(DAVID) Well, we approach our work from a marketing perspective, and the design has to achieve something rather than simply selling a client 5,000 leaflets. Print might not be the best method for everyone, however print does work and we use print, we try and be as eco-friendly as possible but print does work it stands out at the moment. We design for the job the advertisement has got to achieve, not for just what the MD wants (no offence MDs). You know what you’re like MD’s you’ll want to get as much across as possible and you’re really proud of your business, and that’s great! But there’s a time and place for those messages, there can be too many elements in one part, and customers might not be sure what to look at. It can be the same for leaflets, too much going on. Stripping it back, looking at what the target audience needs to know to do that next step, then you can convert them and sell them at the next step.

So, horses for courses whatever it is Pete, if it’s free design it means you’ll probably like it because it’s just what you thought you wanted but it might not be what’s needed. It’s just worth a little investment sometimes figuring out that message first and then designing effectively across any touchpoint.

 

(PETE) I would like to add if you get something for free there’s quite possibly a copyright issue there. The person who designed it will own the copyright, they’ll never usually give you that copyright to re-reproduce artwork or whatever you want to do with those elements. They’ll often retain or watermark the design, so just be careful of this regarding free design.

 

(DAVID) On that point, we have done web projects in the past and have had to ask clients “where are your images from?” and they’ve often responded, “it was in the public space, it’s fine, it’s from Google”. You should be very careful doing this, just because images are o Google does not mean they’re free to use, you can get a lot of trouble using images that aren’t owned by you. There are better ways of sourcing your own images.

Overall, if you’re looking at designing something you don’t have to come to us, it’s fine. Just sit down and think about the free design, is that person going to help you with the marketing messages? Is that person going to be able to design effectively for what it is you’re trying to achieve, or are you just getting someone to bash it together? That may sound harsh, but graphic design is three, four years at university- the same as marketing it’s a university degree. Free design designers may not have the knowledge and experience to create effective messaging. This is an investment in a message to get you more business and growth, which is worth a bit of time and investment, isn’t it?

On that note, thank you very much for inviting me on today, Pete.

 

(PETE) If you’ve got any comments about this topic please leave them below. Remember it can cost you a pretty penny or two in the long term and short term as well because this is free design and you may not have full control over the messaging portrayed.

We approach design from a marketing perspective and understanding exactly what marketing is, and that’s a whole other conversation!

 

(DAVID) We know cheapest isn’t always best and ask yourself, “is it really good value by having something designed for free?”

 

(PETE) Well, I can’t sign off any better than that guys, so if we don’t speak to you before next week, Merry Christmas, have a great one, have a safe one, take care.

the marketing people advise the true cost of free designing

Anyone Can Do Our Job…

Yes, you read that title right. Anyone can do marketing. But can anyone do marketing effectively? No.

Watch our video below where Managing Director, David Mitchell and recent graduate Danielle Jupp, discuss why marketing is not something that ‘just anyone’ can do.

 

 

Before we get started if you didn’t manage to watch this video live. Then subscribe to our YouTube Channel so you never miss a video again.

Danielle Jupp has spent the last week completing some work experience at the marketing people after recently graduating from the University of Derby.

“I wanted to be in business and to help people; the perfect solution there is marketing because you’re helping people build their business, grow sales and I think this is just the perfect combination of the two”.

As a result of education and experience, marketeers make strategic moves. Some businesses will just say what they want to say to people, rather than saying what that customer needs to see or hear to actually take the right action that the business want them to take against the marketing activity.

 

So, what is marketing?

 

Marketing is a profession, not a hobby. It’s difficult to the answer “what is marketing” as there are so many aspects to it but put simply, marketing is the process of establishing your position in the market place and communicating with existing/potential customers in a way that puts you ahead of your competitors, in order to attract, engage, convince and convert customers.

“One of the key things that Danni has mentioned is the psychology element and that’s what marketing is all about. But by being qualified to do it, there’s a big difference, it saves clients’ money, it saves time and it saves presenting yourself in the wrong way and I think the strategy is the most important bit”.

Being educated in consumer psychology has helped Danielle to put a focus on the consumer journey. “The journey doesn’t just start at customers calling you up for a consultation or to buy your products, the journey starts, for example, when they look for your website. Was it easy to find on Google? When they found it was it nice to look at and easy to navigate? All these things play on your psychology”.

One of the main things that businesses go wrong with is not being able to look at themselves objectively.

“You need to have a look objectively at who you are as a business and what you’re offering. Empathise with your target audience, really stand in their shoes, stand the other side of the table and look at what they require”.

 

If you would like to find out how we can help you to attract, engage, convince and convert customers for your business then give us a call on 01543 387 047  or book an appointment.

Top Tips to Cut Through The Noise

cut through the noise tmp

cut through the noise tmp

Our Managing Director David Mitchell, Vice President of Cannock Chase Chamber of Commerce, advises businesses to ‘measure twice and cut once’ when it comes to promoting and marketing their products/services.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, every man, woman and dog is trying to get their message across to potential customers, to maintain current clients and win new business.

So, it is important you don’t just make a noise and knee jerk – make sure what you are saying and who you are targeting will give you maximum return.

Before going to market, stop and think about your business- your sector, your service offering, your target audience, and your competitors. Now look at where you are now and where you want to be. This crucial pre-marketing stage will ensure you capitalise on your ongoing marketing activities.

Want to find out how you can stop wasting time, money & effort on marketing that doesn’t work? Check out our blog post here.

Now is a great time to update your website, but don’t make change for change’s sake: ensure all updates attract, engage, convince and convert customers.

Our region has many fantastic companies that offer great products and services. Mitchell has a passion for local and regional businesses to succeed and grow, for both themselves and for our region’s economic development.

In his role as Vice President of the Cannock Chase Chamber of Commerce, and Managing Director of The Marketing People, Mitchell is offering business advice to help our local companies survive and thrive through the current pandemic.

He says, “The landscape has changed, so it’s time for businesses to re-think what they have done before. Now is the key time to work ON your business, so consider what changes you need to make internally, to your website, and look at your overall marketing and promotion to make sure it fits with how you will move forward after this.”

Cut through the noise and make your communications work harder for you. Think twice, act once.

Want to come out of Covid-19 bigger and better than before? Book your business consultation now to create the marketing strategy that will help you achieve your objectives. Call us on 01543 495752.

The Charlie Ramsey Research Fund Chosen as ASDA’s Winning Charity

Charlie Ramsey Research Fund ASDA

Charlie Ramsey Research Fund ASDA

The Charlie Ramsey Research Fund has received £500 from ASDA for being the winning charity of their Green Token Scheme.

The Charlie Ramsey Research Fund is raising awareness of Complex Congenital Heart Defects, Organ Donation, and AEDs (automated external defibrillators), along with continually supporting the purchase of Defibrillators in local schools and community initiatives.

They have been chosen as one of the charities for ASDA’s Green Token Scheme, which allows shoppers to vote for one of three different charities after completing their shopping. Over 8 weeks, from early October, The Charlie Ramsey Research Fund received the most votes in the Queslett store and were rewarded with £500. This kind donation will play a vital part in supporting the purchase of Defibrillators for local schools and community initiatives.

The Marketing People have had the pleasure of working with and supporting the charity with the design and production of three promotional roller banners, which will help them raise awareness of Complex Congenital Heart Defects and Organ Donation at any future events. We helped them from concept, to messaging, through to creating relevant copy and an effective design. Once the charity signed off the roller banners, we produced them and delivered them in time for their next event.

Charlie Ramsey Research Fund The Marketing People

We look forward to further supporting The Charlie Ramsey Research Fund as a charity close to our hearts. We hope that you will consider doing the same.

Please visit our Just Giving page here, where you can help support the charity. No matter how small, your donation will make a difference to those born with half a heart. Thank you for your generosity. 

How to Get a Return on Investment from Your Marketing

Pre-marketing The Marketing People

How much time, effort and money are you wasting on marketing that doesn’t work? Watch our short video now to increase your return on investment (ROI) on all marketing campaigns.

The Marketing People’s Managing Director David Mitchell FCIM discusses the common mistakes many business owners make when marketing their products or services. Before going to market, stop and think about your business- your competitors, your sector, where you are now and where you want to be. This pre-marketing stage will ensure you clarify who you are, what you do, your target audience and their requirements, so you can capitalise on your ongoing marketing activities and increase your return on investment.

Stop wasting time and money. Watch our short video here:

Video: How Pre Marketing Can Help Your Business





Stop wasting money on Marketing that doesn’t work!

For your convenience, please find below a step-by-step guide to pre-marketing and how it can help your business:

Marketing isn’t getting Mary in reception to send some letters out, or do a few emails, or make a few phone calls. That’s not marketing. That’s just pushing some messages at somebody, trying to get some sales, and people are wise to that.

So, what is marketing?

Pre-marketing The Marketing People

According to the Chartered Institute of Marketing, it is, “The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitability.”

Pre-marketing The Marketing People

Our version here at The Marketing People is, “Getting people to do what you want, and make them think it was their idea. To attract, engage, convince, and convert.”

So, over the years we’ve worked out a strategy to help people identify the best way to use their marketing, and develop their marketing.

Pre-marketing The Marketing People

Most people come to us and say, “I want some marketing doing. I need a brochure; I need a new website because mine isn’t working; I need some Google Ads; I need some Facebook Ads, or I need some search engine optimisation (SEO).” This is because they’re desperate to start getting more out of their marketing, and they’ve realised they’re losing their place in the market. Their competitors are gaining their business.

There’s a key step before all that.

Pre-marketing The Marketing People

This explains to you how you can get more out of your marketing investment and it not be a cost. It’s the pre-marketing step, which most people forget; not just small business owners that come in and see us, some big business owners, some corporate business owners, all those people who are middle management.

Most of the time we’re talking to the MDs and the CEOs so we can have a real down to earth conversation about what it is that the business requires, and we work against those objectives.

So, you want to do that- sit down and think about what your business is and where it sits. What are the key things, and your points of difference to your competitors?

Have a look at the pre-marketing step and this will really help you get more out of your marketing budget, and the resources you have.

Pre-marketing The Marketing People

Stop. Do not keep putting the cart before the horse. Most people do it, you’re not on your own.

Pre-marketing The Marketing People

Our pre-marketing materials can be downloaded from our website here.

But, here’s the short version.

Pre-marketing The Marketing People

Pre-marketing is all the green stuff that nobody’s doing. They’re all on the blue bit. They come in, “I want some direct marketing, I want an email campaign, I want my exhibition and events sorted. And, I need some pull-ups, pop-ups or whatever it is.” Well, what’s going to go on it? And what should be on there? Why should it be on there?

Who you are and what you offer. Your competitors. Your target audience- what do they want? Do you know what they want? Well you can find out; we can work it through. What is your name and your brand, and positioning? Is that correct in the sector that you’re in? So what do you need to say, and how do you need to say it to get those people to convert to be customers? To attract them in the first place, then engage, convince, and convert.

Pre-marketing The Marketing People

If you get all that right, when you do go to market for the SEO, for the AdWords, or the other bits that you think you should be doing, that’ll be on target. That’ll be in line with what it is that your potential customers want. You won’t waste your money. You’ll actually be utilising that budget effectively. So again, stop, go back and look at yourself from a competitor’s point of view as well. They’re looking at you. You should be looking at them.

Pre-marketing The Marketing People

So where are you now? Good question. Where is the business? Where are you not capitalising opportunities? Are there available elements within your marketing strategy to get more of the right type of client? What’s your steady type of client? The profitable ones? Where’s your cash cows? Which are the ones we need more of? How can we target them? What do they need from you?

Pre-marketing The Marketing People

And then, of course, where do you want to be? What are the objectives? What are your business needs? What are your targets? Let’s find out because then we can do something that makes it work. So, sit down and think about it and make a marketing plan. Have the right type of clients, but map that out, and then make a strategy to fit that so you achieve those objectives, not just waste money on stuff that you think might be a good idea or the next technology that’s coming out.

Pre-marketing The Marketing People

Okay, let’s fill that gap in the near future. We say near future because things change. People’s habits are changing the way they work, the way they buy. If it’s business-to-business, business-to-consumer, there is a certain model that you can use for both, but habits are changing, so be aware of that. Be adaptive and keep going back to this pre-marketing step.

Pre-marketing The Marketing People

It’s new tech, same principle. When it comes down to it, it’s pretty basic. I’m not going to give you loads of acronyms and techie things that are going to go, “You need this, you need that.” You don’t. What you need is the right mission statement. The right element to go through it. We know that we have strangers, to promoters, and there’s a cycle that people go through.

Pre-marketing The Marketing People

Every business goes through these stages. Basically, it’s quite simple: our objective working in a business is, we want to get strangers, to customers, to promoters. It doesn’t finish with the customer by the way; make sure after all the effort you’ve put in, in getting them, converting them, and getting them as a customer, that you then get them to promote you as well.

Pre-marketing The Marketing People

It’s nothing new. I’ve called it pre-marketing, because a lot of people miss that step, and it is before you start what most people consider the marketing elements. It’s nothing new, it’s the same old stuff. It’s just applied through different technologies and different ways of communicating, but it is a crucial step.

Sit down now and think about every time you’ve gone to your web designer and told him exactly what you want- you’ve told him how you want it to look and what kind of feel you want. Well, when people come to us and say that, I turn to them and say, “Well, the reason it isn’t working is your fault then.” Which isn’t meant to upset anybody, but it’s true. You’ve told someone what you wanted, and all they did was do what you said so you were happy, but is it what your customers need to enable you to develop your business?

Pre-marketing The Marketing People

Sales and marketing. Whatever channel- traditional, spoken, face-to-face, exhibition, whatever channel it’s on, it’s all the same stuff. It’s got a purpose to attract, engage, convince, and convert, and if it’s not doing that, then don’t waste your money.

Actually, strategically, if I was going to the doctors, because I’m not feeling very well, you’d go to the doctor, he’d tell you what’s wrong with you., and if he couldn’t fix it, you’d be off to the hospital, to professionals. Same with your accountant. Same with your solicitor. You’d be asking professionals, look, there’s an issue here, I need it fixing.

Marketing is a profession, not a hobby. It’s not something you can do in your spare time.

Pre-marketing The Marketing People

So, pre-marketing, think about it. It’s a crucial step. It’s going to help you. Whether you get in touch with us or not doesn’t matter, as long as you use this video to do something. The people who have been to our seminars have come away going, “Blooming hell, I didn’t realise how much I wasn’t doing in the first step, which could save me a fortune in cost.” It shouldn’t be a cost mark, it’s a good investment, if done properly. A bit like buying a property, you’ll target the right one, you’ll do your research, you’ll figure out it’s right. Do the same with your marketing.

Pre-marketing The Marketing People

Beat your competition. Get that horse in front of the cart.

Don’t tell any lies. Be polite, be honest, and in line with what the audience requirements are, not what you want.

Now, would you like marketing that’s going to actually earn you business?

Pre-marketing The Marketing People

If you’ve got some insights, or things that you think could help, then great, please comment below. If you’d like more information, then get in touch.

For marketing that focuses on a return on investment (ROI), call us today on 01543 495752 for a friendly chat to see how we might be able to help you.

This is the night we have all been waiting for: Burntwood Rugby Club Summer Ball 2019

summer ball - BRC 2019

Article first published 5th July 2019. Article updated 10th July 2019.

The Marketing People Burntwood Rugby Club Summer Ball 2019

Burntwood Rugby Club’s Summer Ball 2019 is finally upon us. Tomorrow, 6th July at 7pm, Burntwood Rugby Club opens its doors for Staffordshire’s premier black-tie event.

We will be there

The Marketing People have proudly reserved a table at Burntwood Rugby Club’s Summer Ball 2019 and we can’t wait to celebrate with all of you.

We look forward to catching up with friends and clients, and we also love meeting new people, so please come and say hello.

The evening

Those of you lucky enough to get hold of a ticket to the Summer Ball 2019 are set for a fabulous evening.

  • Black-tie event

Dress to impress in black tie for the gentlemen and ball gowns for the ladies

  • Drinks reception

Whet your appetite for the evening with a complimentary glass of fizz on arrival

  • Three course dinner

Indulge in a delicious three course dinner courtesy of Perry’s Fine Foods

  • Table service

Place your drinks order with dedicated waiting staff throughout the evening

  • Fully stocked bar

Choose from an extensive list of white wines, red wines and rosé wines, plus a large selection of gins, beers, lagers, ciders, spirits and soft drinks

  • Live entertainment

Dance the night away with live music from Suzi and the Backbeats and DJ Rainbow Sounds

  • Raffle

Buy a raffle ticket and be in with a chance to win some fantastic prizes

How it’s looking – Events at Burntwood Rugby Club

The Marketing People have worked with Burntwood Rugby Club from conception, creating the Events at Burntwood Rugby Club brand to align with the improvements made at the Club.

The Marketing People then applied the professional Events at Burntwood Rugby Club brand across all marketing collateral, from stationery such as business cards, letterheads and compliment slips, to promotional materials like banners, flyers, menus, and the new Events website.

How it’s looking – Summer Ball 2019

Naturally, The Marketing People have been responsible for marketing the Summer Ball 2019.

Firstly, we worked on the strategy of how to promote the event, identifying the key messages to be used and writing relevant, targeted copy.

The Marketing People have managed the entire process of all printed material, from initial consultations, through to design, production and delivery.

We are responsible for the promotional marketing items, including posters and the eye-catching roadside banner, positioned on The Sportsway outside Burntwood Rugby Club.

Following this, The Marketing People designed and printed the Summer Ball tickets to align with the agreed artwork style.

We also worked on the Summer Ball 2019 welcome board, table plan, table numbers, menus and wine lists and even the fridge header vinyl graphics as a final nod to the professional presentation of the Events team, Burntwood Rugby Club and the Summer Ball itself. Despite several changes to the table plan, due to unexpected circumstances of the guests, we managed to get it completed in budget and on time.

The Marketing People Summer Ball 2019 Table Plan BRC_Summer Ball 2019 Reception Board BRC_Summer Ball 2019 Menu BRC_Summer Ball 2019 Wine List

The Marketing People published all online marketing campaigns for the Summer Ball, including blog posts and social media management, to raise awareness of the event, to showcase what to expect from the evening, and to promote ticket sales.

Unlike many other marketing agencies, we have been involved in the strategy and organisation of the Summer Ball 2019 from start to finish, even down to mapping out where toilet signs need to be displayed to ensure the event runs smoothly.

Thanks must go to Burntwood Rugby Club for continually entrusting The Marketing People to successfully promote their Club and their busy schedule of events.

Let’s have a ball

The hard work is now over and it’s time to reap the rewards of everyone’s efforts.

We hope you all have a brilliant evening at Burntwood Rugby Club’s Summer Ball 2019.

The Marketing People will be on Table Five, then we will be making the most of the live entertainment on the dance floor.

See you there.

9th July 2019

The Marketing People Burntwood Rugby Club Summer Ball 2019
Amanda Mitchell & Emma Kempson from The Marketing People
The Marketing People Burntwood Rugby Club Summer Ball 2019
John Dundon & The Marketing People’s David Mitchell

On Saturday 6th July Burntwood Rugby Club’s Summer Ball 2019 exceeded all expectations, as the event was executed perfectly all evening, and a great time was had by all. Here at The Marketing People, we had a fantastic evening and we are proud to have been involved in the whole organisation and promotion of the premier black-tie Summer Ball.

The Marketing People had a ball

It was lovely to spend time with friends and our clients. The Marketing People feel so lucky to be able to help so many businesses to reach their goals, and to form long-standing friendships along the way. Our team also enjoyed spending some quality time together outside of work. Thank you to everyone for making our evening so much fun.

Our hard work was worth it

The Marketing People received many congratulations throughout the evening for the successful marketing of the Summer Ball 2019, from the strategy to ensure the evening ran like a military operation, through to the beautiful printed collateral.

Our meetings with the team at Burntwood Rugby Club to discuss the organisation of the Summer Ball 2019 were invaluable, as every aspect of the evening was seamless, from the orderliness of members of staff, to the faultless table service.

The branded workwear, till digital display, notepads and fridge headers were received extremely well by the guests and staff, and cemented the Summer Ball as Burntwood’s premier black-tie event.

The welcome board, table plan, table numbers, menus and wine lists were a beautiful little touch to highlight the professional development of Events at Burntwood Rugby Club.

Need help promoting your event? Call our friendly team on 01543 495752 to ensure you are the talk of the town, for all the right reasons.

Let’s Do Business Expo 2019: The Power of Networking

The Marketing People Let's Do Business Expo 2019

The Marketing People Let's Do Business Expo 2019

Let’s Do Business Expo 2019, organised by Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce and Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, took place yesterday at Uttoxeter Racecourse and it was networking at its best. Leading the way for Staffordshire businesses, The Marketing People proudly exhibited at stand B60 and what a fantastic day it was for all.

The Marketing People Let's Do Business Expo 2019

Thank you

A huge thank you to the Chambers of Commerce for organising such a brilliant event. The expo ran seamlessly, with lots of support on hand and a whole host of useful keynote speakers and business growth seminars throughout the day.

Thanks must also go to everyone in attendance, both delegates and exhibitors. It was a brilliant turnout and the hugely popular event secured its place as the annual centrepiece of the local business scene for another year.

Speed networking

The Marketing People started off the flagship event the right way, speaking with over 50 organisations in under an hour.

Making so many new contacts in such a short space of time really got our juices flowing and we were raring to go once we got to our stand.

The Marketing People Let's Do Business Expo 2019

Exhibitors

The expo hosted over one hundred exhibitors, creating a platform for us all to promote our businesses in a thriving and inspirational environment. It was great for The Marketing People to network with fellow exhibitors in the local business community.

We had some really positive conversations with other exhibitors around their company’s marketing, and came away with lots of qualified leads and potential partnership working.

Delegates

As always, the exhibition attracted hundreds of delegates from a broad range of business sectors. The Marketing People made lots of new connections on the day and took the opportunity to do business with motivated, liked-minded individuals.

The Marketing People Let's Do Business Expo 2019

Get involved

The Chambers of Commerce promised a day of ‘connections, inspiration and enterprise’ at the Let’s Do Business Expo, and that it certainly was.

The County wide exhibition is just one of many excellent networking opportunities for you and your business, so why come along to future events?

We hope that everyone benefited from the expo- delegates and exhibitors alike- and we look forward to building relationships with the connections that we made yesterday.

The Marketing People Let's Do Business Expo 2019

For more information about Let’s Do Business Expo 2019 visit www.letsdobusinessexpo.co.uk.

If you would like to exhibit at future Chambers of Commerce events and need any help with your pull up banners, on-screen presentations or stationery for your stand we can help you. Ensure your website is SEO optimised and bringing real benefits to your business ahead of the event, to reap the rewards of your exhibition. Contact us now on 01543 495752 to see how we could work together.

Roller Banners – D&A Education

d&a roller banner design

D & A Education wanted to take advantage of our full expertise. They asked The Marketing People to design and produce two roller banners for them, so they could showcase their business in a professional manner at exhibitions and at their training events.

As a full in-house marketing agency, we can manage the whole strategy, design, print and fulfilment process of any of our projects, taking the hassle out of marketing for all our clients.

The benefits of roller banners

Do you have a roller banner for your business? If you haven’t, why not?

Pop-up banners are effective in promoting your brand, whatever the occasion. They are large enough to be noticeable from quite a distance and a high resolution, quality design attracts attention. Their size enables you to deliver most, if not all, your key messages in one place, providing enough information that customers need to make a decision about your product or service. Assembly is quick and simple, plus it doesn’t require much storage space, making it easy to transport to any event.

How to create an effective roller banner

 Now you realise the benefits of having a roller banner or two and have decided to invest, you need to ensure that the copy and design of the banner work hand-in-hand to bring benefit to your business.

Plenty of companies can offer you cheap graphic design, but pretty pictures alone won’t generate leads and sales. You want a return on your investment, so you need to consider your brand position before anything else and decide what message it is that you need to get across, and to what type of people.

And so the project begins…

Concept

Firstly, we scoped and developed D & A Education’s brand position. Thinking about who, why and when people would use D & A, we pinpointed their unique selling proposition: they are experienced at managerial level in related industries, compliant with UK legislation and CQC standards, plus they deliver hands-on, engaging and memorable training.

Messaging

Next up, we created suitable messaging in line with the brand ID, considering how their unique selling proposition would benefit potential customers i.e. empowering caring and responsible employers, delivering bespoke training programmes, satisfaction to have staff with great knowledge and skills to help their company and clients, and working together with management to be cost-effective.

Copy

Once we knew what was required to present D & A Education effectively, we could begin the creative process to deliver against the objectives.

We wrote relevant copy to highlight the expertise and experience that they have to offer, and targeted the content towards the people who need to engage with their services. We split the information into two to enhance readability: what D & A do, and why you should choose D & A.

Design         

Now it was time to create the visuals.

We have worked with D & A Education from the very beginning, so we had previously developed their brand ID including logo and strapline. We wanted the roller banners to complement the existing stationery and website that we had already designed and produced, so their brand is consistent across all collateral.

The artwork was professional in layout and design to present the business successfully, and clear, concise and eye-catching to demand attention at exhibitions or training events.

Production

Our thorough knowledge of the printing process, stock and material means that we can save our clients time, money and the hassle of having to manage it themselves.

The roller banners were produced in vinyl for its tough and durable quality. This material also makes it easy to pop them up and down, meaning they require very little space to store.

Delivery

After a fast print turnaround, we delivered the roller banners to D & A Education and they were extremely happy with the finished products. They now proudly display them at all exhibitions and when delivering training sessions, further instilling their professionalism and expertise to attendees.

Get your roller banner now

Is your stationery promoting you effectively?

Whether you want to gain more customers, increase revenue, generate more leads and sales, or increase brand awareness to stand out in your sector, your stationery can help with this, as long as it is executed correctly.

To ensure your pop-up banner is a success, pop in to see us for an informal chat and a cup of tea. Call us on 01543 495752 to arrange a day that is convenient for you.

Emergency First Aid at Work

First Aid certification d&a education

We are pleased to announce that we have recently completed and passed Emergency First Aid at Work and Emergency Administration of Epinephrine Auto-Injector training, meaning that The Marketing People now exceed legal provision of first aid in the workplace.

Are you compliant?

The Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 require you to provide ‘adequate and appropriate first-aid equipment, facilities and people, so your employees can be given immediate help if they are injured or taken ill at work.’ These regulations apply to all workplaces, but legislations differ depending on the circumstances.

Head to www.hse.gov.uk to find out how first aid affects your business and if you are compliant.

Who to choose?

If you do need to organise appropriate training, as an employer you will need assurance that you have selected a competent training provider.

This was a no-brainer for us. We have worked with D&A Education on many marketing projects, helping them to present their business and its services professionally. So far, we have: reviewed their business name; created their positioning statement and strapline; designed their logo; applied their brand ID to key stationery elements including business cards, letterheads, compliment slips, introducers, flyers, certificates and roller banners; purchased a relevant URL; designed and developed their website, and set up their e-mail accounts, just to name a few.

We continue to work with them to ensure their marketing is still benefiting their business and, as with many of our clients, we have built a friendly, long-lasting relationship with them. We believe in their business model and the training they provide, so it made sense to choose them to ensure we were complying with legislation.

We also arranged for them to use our company premises, as our upstairs room is spacious and comfortable- ideal for both the practical elements of the day and the educational aspect.

What’s the emergency first aid at work training like?

Our experience of first aid training was memorable, engaging and enjoyable whilst remaining professional, practical and productive.

Over the course of the day we were given a presentation on each aspect of first aid to be covered, then we performed hands-on practical exercises in our pairs, before being examined on them.

During the one-day course we covered CPR, how to treat an unconscious casualty, shock, minor injuries, wounds and bleeding, burns, fractures, epilepsy, diabetes and anaphylaxis, plus many more.

Following the practical examinations there was a written test to complete to ensure we had understood everything that we had been taught.

We did it!

We were delighted to find out we scored 100% on the day, meaning The Marketing People are going above current legislations for first aid provisions at work.

To ensure your business is compliant, contact D&A Education on 07951 996203 or visit www.daeducation.co.uk to find out how their wide range of tailored courses can benefit you.

If your marketing needs bringing back to life, call The Marketing People on 01543 495752 to arrange your free initial consultation. Work with us and know that your business- and your health- are in safe hands.