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.

The Marketing People Acquires John Hoey Web Design

TMP & JHWD blog header

We are pleased to announce the acquisition of John Hoey Web Design.

At The Marketing People, we are continually looking at ways to improve the benefits our services provide our clients to achieve their particular business requirements and objectives.

Enhancing our existing in-house offering with a proven SEO expert, user-centred web designer and developer who shares our business benefits focus and client service approach, we are pleased to have John join us at The Marketing People as our appointed SEO Manager.

Many clients had informed us when switching to The Marketing People that they were not quite sure what they were paying for when it came to their previous SEO provider, who they had a distance relationship with and only received occasional reports from them that they didn’t understand. Or, if their provider understood their business and their objectives, they hadn’t seen the results they were promised they would get when employing them.

SEO has changed and continues to do so; it’s part of the marketing mix, not an afterthought once the website has been designed and built. It should be considered at the design stage for web design, and also any digital campaigns to drive inbound leads and enquiries.

With this acquisition, our collective current and future clients can continue to develop their competitive edge in their sector and marketplace at all touch points for potential and existing customers. Coupled with the marketing consultancy, brand development, creative graphic design, digital marketing, web design, print and promotional services we provide, SEO gives our clients the opportunity and means to make their targeted brand and marketing work.

Put simply: marketing is the key to any business success, and that investment in marketing by clients should deliver the maximum return achievable. This acquisition is in line with our collective objective to help clients do just that- to attract, engage, convince and convert potential customers while maintaining existing clients.

To read John Hoey Web Design’s blog post please click here.

For more details, please get in touch with a member of our friendly team on 01543 495752.

Rebrand – case study

Saligent Blog Visuals

rebrand

Rebrand – case study

– If any of the following applies to your business, then maybe a rebrand might be right for you.

  • your business has changed over the years
  • products, services, staff or customers have changed
  • your simply not sure about how you are perceived, positioned or appear in the market against your competition, customers, products or services
  • need to get to the next level? know what you want but not sure how to get there?

What can you do?

Many believe that a rebrand is about super creative people sitting around a table exchanging name suggestions, producing visual creativity mood boards and attempting, innovative ways to provide unique, impactful ideas to promote a business. This is partly true, but it won’t provide real intelligent, effective marketing, if done in isolation.

A purely creative approach can often produce hard to understand, abstract and sometimes meaningless marketing, with no real intelligent forethought for the real objectives of any individual business. A rebrand as a result, is not as simple a process as it may seem.

All of the really creative and exciting stuff noted above can and may well be applied, but only once a strict creative brief has been discovered. This brief requires a more logical process. It will follow tried and tested conventions in marketing theory and development. To show some elements of this process, lets take a case study of what we did for one of our clients.

Positioning

‘D2 business development’ – approached us, having been already in trade for approximately 18 months. They knew something wasn’t quite right in their market positioning. They were open to a full and frank discussion about their approach to the business and its current marketing. Through a thorough consultation, we were able to discover what the real objectives of the business were and challenge some aspects of the model.  We found out who the competition was and who they needed to target. We then aligned these objectives with some in depth positioning work that would describe the business perfectly.

Once we had done this we agreed with D2 that a rebrand would be most effective. We now knew its true positioning, and this would inform the rest of the project providing control, consistency, effective key tone, messaging and visual creativity going forward.

Renaming – the naming convention

Remember a rebrand might not always require a name change but in this case, it did. Naming a business isn’t just a matter of brainstorming, co-design, ideation or an algorithm driven, ‘whacky name generator’ to create a name. The convention follows a logical, process driven creation, through a living document. It tests, analyses and validates relevant words to form an appropriate shortlist. This will then morph, merge, discount and provide names to research further.

It’s a tried and tested process that works extremely well in forming a name that sounds just right, feels established and is effective against the business’ objectives. It will create the basis for a successful and credible brand, for any of its potential clients to ‘own’. The work also included research on existing names at Companies House, URL domains, trademarks, international meanings, customer perception, competition analysis and legal repercussions. The process is thorough and provides proof of discovery.

Brand Development

Now we were positioned and had a name that met the targeted requirements, we were able to develop some key factors through intelligent, creative marketing. This provided key messaging, tone and a visual brief for the next step in brand development. Find out more about Branding here.

Graphic design

Using the brief, we set to translate this into graphic design for the brand ID or logo. This would go on to set the format for all business stationary, web development and social media graphics, posts, articles and business representation for all strategy and eventual tactical outputs going forward. The design focused on the positioning and brand development to portray a credible business, unique, recognisable and memorable within its market position.

Site scoping

Only now do we start thinking about what we needed for the website, to be the best it can be for a potential web visitor. The scoping was designed in line with its use across all screen sizes and mobile device formats.  It should provide a quick and efficient structure to enable a successful user journey, from ‘visitor to lead & contact’ in the easiest and most efficient way possible and without breaking the budget.

Dynamic copy

Our copy writing took direction from the client but at the same time, applied techniques from years of marketing experience, to get the business message and brand across perfectly and in a way that matched the target audience’s expectations. It should direct them to more information if need be, or relevant calls to action that can change dynamically. Ultimately it should prompt the visitor to contact the business, whilst remaining subtle against discovered objectives and approach to its positioning.

rebrand

Launch

Of course, each part of the development was timed and carried out in agreement with D2. We made sure everything was in place to continue each stage. For example, formation of the new business at Companies House, domain ownership, business diary entries and seasonal sales fluctuations. We also consulted on the best way to inform on-boarding and previous clients of the rebrand. We leave no stone unturned. The new business, ‘Saligent’ was formed and launched successfully.

If you want to see what the end results were, follow this link to their new website. https://saligent.co.uk

To Conclude

This work marks a major re-brand for the company, formerly D2 Business Development.  Managing Director, Chris Davies, is well aware of how sales and marketing work together through a common goal for growth. His business develops your sales, whilst we provide him with the tools and an effective way for potential clients to discover Saligent.

Contact Us

Contact us now @ The Marketing People to see how we link up and develop marketing for your business. We can advise on your rebrand, refresh or on any other marketing matter. Just pick up the phone 01543 495752 or email contact@themarketingpeople.com

Brand Positioning & Funky Wunky Doo Dahs

Brand Poistioning - Funky Wunky Doodahs logo

Brand Poistioning

Brand Positioning & A New Website – Funky Wunky Doo Dahs

Brand positioning is a vital element when considering any business’ marketing. Here is an example of how we used brand positioning to best effect in one of our latest projects. The ‘positioning is key’, to all other elements.

When Funky Wunky Doo Dahs approached us with a view to working together, we were intrigued. Not only because it was a surprising name, but because we really wanted to know what Funky Wunky Doo Dahs was all about. Brand positioning? What was Funky, what was Wunky and what were the Doo Dahs going to say to potential customers?

Communication

Actually one of the first conversations we had with the Managing Director Sandra, from Funky Wunky, was whether or not the name worked in relation to the business and the industry it operated within. The first part of our consultation formulated the work on brand positioning and validated the business name objectively. Ultimately, both the client and The Marketing People agreed that the name could in fact work, as long as we positioned it correctly.

This was the start of a super project and Sandra has been a superb example of a customer who would work hard with us throughout the consultation process, allow for our positioning work and feedback constructively on subsequent graphic and website design elements.

Both parties knew we had to challenge the brief to get the best results. We think the results are now perfect for attracting the ‘right kind’ of customer for Funky Wunky.

What did we do?

  • Consultation – a two-way dialogue challenging the initial brief and to discover a new, more effective way forward.
  • Brand Positioning – now we had something to go on, we started work on the brand positioning statement. One that would best describe the business’ proposition and guide key messaging, tone and visual content later on.
  • Strapline – from the Brand Positioning we were able to develop a key statement to encapsulate the business succinctly. It was developed to help represent a more recognisable, memorable brand ID.

Before and after

  • Corporate & Brand ID – through intelligent graphic design, the working brief and the brand positioning, we could now work on the key visual elements and brand ID/Logo. Above you can see some comaprison against the competition and the previous ID/Logo. We needed to retain some ‘levity’ and ‘fun’ within the brand, but keep the ‘funkiness’ under control. The marketing should still represent the business’ tone, expert service and value proposition. To conclude and without making light of the hard work in its development, the design remained ‘funky wunky’, but still communicated a serious interior design outfit, with a little extra refinement still in check within its offering.
  • Business Cards – now with some key visuals, we were able to design some business stationary and then provide the business cards to go alongside it.

Brand Positioning Example

  • Business Website – prior to any visuals, or graphic design we needed to make sure the website would engage potential customers effectively and lead them easily and quickly through the services and products on offer. The site scoping enabled us to simplify the structure of the current website and make it easy for users to understand the benefits and services funky wunky doo dahs offer, and guide them to purchase a range of items available online.
  • Site Plan & Wireframes  – were produced to confirm the strategy, overall technical and functional design plus the e-commerce integration. From agreement, we then set about creating the visuals to match the brand positioning, the users requirements and the business objectives. Assisted with the copy and calls to action, managed image resizing & placement. Developing a fully responsive, re-sizable for any screen and mobile device, SSL certified secure website.

 

ecommerce

  • E-commerce Solution – you can also purchase other items from Funky Wunky Doo Dahs to enhance your ‘inspired, designed, interior‘. We were mindful of this throughout the scoping and design process. We had to tie in the user experience and direct visitors efficiently to other parts of the business that might be of interest to them. Something they could purchase easily, without detracting from the interior design service, which is front and foremost.

 

  • Training – on top of everything else, we enabled full access to the website. Sandra is now able to login, blog, change copy and administer small changes to the site. She can upload new products, change certain aspects and yet keep the balanced marketing UX (user experience) structure under control. The website always remains in a client’s full ownership, so we can enable this for those who are confident in its use. We can do everything, upload products, provide photography and write all of the copy, but we are also happy to guide a client and allow them to pitch in. Sometimes this can help with your business’ budget.

Have a Look at the Website!

All in all, this has been a great project to work on. More products and content will be going onto the site as Sandra develops the business further, but feel free to take a look now. https://funkywunkydoodahs.co.uk/

Inspired, Designed, Interiors

If you’re thinking of refreshing your interior design, give Funky Wunky Doodahs a call on 01785 229306 for a consultation.

But if you’re looking to refresh your marketing… call The Marketing People now on 01543 387 047 for a free initial consultation.

Our Essential Marketing Package

Essential Marketing Package from The Marketing People

Essential Marketing PackageCost Effective Marketing 

Our cost effective essential marketing package is here & you won’t believe how much is in it!

We provide real, tangible, effective marketing forethought to everything we do, even for this, our more economical marketing package in ‘the essentials range’.

Our essentials range is a selection of marketing services including loads of great stuff for business growth. Our years of knowledge and experience are condensed into effective but affordable add on product packages.

This marketing package is suitable for new start-up businesses or those who need to take an established business to the next level of professional credibility.

One of these projects, ‘Vertu Chauffeurs’, was a superb essential marketing package to work on. It included everything from our entry level service. Just have a quick look below at the full list of what we do!

Of course, you can add things to this if you want to, but just see what you can achieve from this basic proposition. I think you will agree, the results can be fabulous.

The Essential Marketing Package – Amazing Marketing, Amazing Price!!!

  • consultation
  • market positioning
  • quick competition analysis
  • quick target audience profiling
  • logo development, professional graphic design
  • 500 business cards professionally designed and printed for you
  • 500 business flyers professionally designed and printed for you
  • advice on written copy and images (add ons available)
  • digital stationary
  • 4-page website
  • fully responsive website to market your business on all screen sizes from desktops to tablet, to mobile phones, your customers can understand your proposition quickly and easily, wherever they are
  • GDPR data compliance and cookie law pages on top of this
  • a BLOG also attached over and above your website, for you to create endless pages of content, SEO development, news, stories, products, pictures, videos and much, much more
  • full administrational access to your website and blog, so you don’t need to keep calling us if you need to change small aspects of your site.
  • support in your hosting for as long as you stay with us
  • SSL certified, improves SEO, shows the world your website is secure, google friendly
  • Professional business email, to match your website URL
  • 12 months hosting free then £9.99 per month thereafter
  • Full site ownership once completed, so you don’t pay a retainer and you are not in a contract, you can move the hosting if you need to!

All the essential marketing package above for only £1,180+vat and realistically if all the written copy and images are ready to go, we can have this done for you easily within 3 working days! We recommend you take your time writing your copy and finding the right images, but we can get you up and running with your new look and effectively marketed business quickly.

And we can do much, much more – Essential Plus

Essentials Plus Can include all or any of the options below and more, just add them on.

  • options for us to write your copy
  • take your photos
  • be on hand to provide more services
  • social media graphics
  • account set up & automation
  • social media training
  • social media campaigns
  • marketing workshops for you business colleagues or group
  • blog training/access, administration, even tagging and SEO optimisation of your blogs
  • IFTT set up/exchange email accounts
  • pop up banners
  • exhibition stands
  • exhibition marketing
  • catalogues/brochures/introducers
  • larger websites
  • e-commerce sites
  • full business rebrands
  • business repositioning exercises
  • ad campaigns, online and offline
  • bespoke marketing consultation for theory direction and business strategy
  • quick and easy business card and flyer top-up packages
  • retainer marketing packages available, bespoke to objectives, campaign and strategy for tactical output
  • in fact, if you can think of it and you allow us to validate this against your business objectives, we can create just about anything!

Just ask us how we can do this for you now on 01543 387 047 or for more details email contact@themarketingpeople.com

Small Business Marketing Package – Vertu Chauffeurs

Small Business Package - Vertu Chauffers website design from The Marketing People

Small Business Marketing PackageSmall Business Marketing Package

A great small business marketing package is all about looking amazing isn’t it? All creative and colourful right? That’s only a small proportion of what real marketing is about. Let me show you how we approached the marketing for this superb private chauffeur service.

Kam @ Vertu Chauffeurs came to us without having the best experience so far from other marketing outlets. Like many others, he came with the notion that SEO would solve everything.

The business had been ‘sold’ some so called ‘SEO keyword’ services from a well-known business directory. Sadly, this was doing nothing for Vertu. Indeed, if it had done anything for him, the marketing in his old website was quite limited, not nearly effective enough to convert any potential website visitors into a lead. Any real SEO development could have been wasted.

We sat down and had a chat about his target audience, his business, his competition and his value proposition, plus effective key messaging for his business. Together, we talked about positioning this properly to attract the right kind of customers, looking for his exact type of service. We wanted to make use of the opportunities he already has to market his business. These opportunities included word of mouth, face to face networking and targeted literature drops.

‘Private, Punctual & Professional – For Business, Transfers & Events’

We wanted to discover the brief with Kam, not just take one from him. We needed to challenge his approach. By adding our experience and industry knowledge, it allows us to take in the information, validate it then translate this to a marketing brief.

This brief would dictate the look, feel, messaging, control and consistency for all of Vertu’s business marketing going forward. With his budget in mind we were able to determine how much time we could spend on each element, we could literally compress our expertise for this small business marketing package. We decided to trigger our essentials marketing package.

Kam uses word of mouth, face to face business networking, direct leaflet drops and traditional business correspondence, so we could see our essentials marketing package would be perfect. It provided, business cards, flyers and a website his potential customers could refer to after receiving his printed media. Find out more about this package here. ESSENTIALSMarketing Collateral

He didn’t need any SEO yet because this could potentially strip his budget and we were in agreement he needed a solid base to work from first. He could develop SEO later, once the business had grown some more. We would ensure however, the new site was optimized for future development. http://vertuchauffeurs.com/

So how would he use the package

Anyone from Vertu can now network with other businesses and hand them a business card or a brochure to introduce the service. Potential clients can also visit his website, which portrays the business’ brand values, service and solutions. Above all these potential clients can see consistent messaging, through these communication touch-points. It now looks professional, credible and his service is provided precisely for them, his very own chosen target audience. It is now an effective marketing base to work from.

Vertu Chauffeurs Website

The dots are now all joined up, they lead directly to his potential customers. These potential customers now have the perfect reason to lead themselves directly back to the Vertu Chauffeurs service.

All of these marketing outputs were designed to fit his business objectives. Designed in a manner that he is able to control, on his budget, efficiently, consistently and effectively.

This is real, effective, joined up marketing, oh yes and it looks great too!

If you are interested in finding out how we can transform your business with our small business marketing package, call our studio now on 01543 387 047 or email contact@themarketingpeople.com now for a chat about your business objectives.

Website Lead Generation

website lead generation

RebrandWebsite Lead Generation for Normans Book Keeping & Payroll

  • Our brand development and subsequent website lead generation has been a massive success! We tied it all in together and provided the web visitor with just what ‘they needed’.

‘Book keeping is boring, isn’t it?’ We beg to differ…

When the managing director from Norman Book Keeping & Payroll came in to see us, he was interested in ‘refreshing’ his website. He wanted to grow the business, targeting particular types of customers and appeal to those looking for the right kind of help. From Owner managed business to larger SME’s, looking for expert bookkeeping and payroll services. A little frustrated, he had tried once before but it didn’t seem to have made any difference. The business still had no inbound inquiries from the website. He realised that the traditional method of just telling a website designer what you want, doesn’t work very well, without the right marketing know how. Let’s see how we applied our knowledge into marketing his business correctly and effectively.

previous website

In a nutshell we needed to do the following.

‘futurise his business in line with his customer’s needs and the book keeping industry’s competitive landscape.’

This now became a little more interesting.

The previous business marketing showed a dowdy, but functional business involved in providing all of the things you would expect in bookkeeping and payroll services. After consulting for a short while, we realised this wasn’t all they did. They actually provided some pretty amazing innovative services, allowing for online cloud-based book keeping services  in partnership with Xero. This allows for easy integration with, spreadsheets, Sage & Quickbooks, plus a plethora of different mobile apps driving information into a modern and exciting book keeping model. Some of these apps include the likes of Go Cardless, Shopify, Paypal and Stripe.

Norman Bookkeeping needed to resemble a contemporary firm, able to link up with your data effortlessly. They wanted to show how they produce quick, easy management reports and information as and when you require it. They didn’t need to change the way they worked, just the way they appeared and the way they communicated this up to date book keeping and payroll service in Aldridge, Walsall and regionally around the Black Country & the West Midlands.

For example

There are many advantages to using Normans such as:

  • Access your data on the go!
  • Automatic Bank Feeds mean that we can do the job much quicker and therefore cheaply
  • Holding all your purchase data electronically means that you will be fully compliant with HMRC’s new regulations for Making Tax Digital
  • Get paid faster with online invoicing
  • There are hundreds of apps that will link directly with Xero such as Stripe, GoCardless, PayPal and Shopify to name but a few.

So what did we do?normans com slip

  • Provided a thorough consultation and brief discovery
  • Advised upon current trends, industry requirements and intelligent customer targeting
  • Worked on a real and true representation of the business services against the required target audience and an ideal customer model
  • Applied some competition analysis and helped to create a unique ‘POD’, or point of difference. We also took into account some ‘POP’, or points of parity. In other words, what do we need to do to prove a ‘USP’, without moving too far away from the industry services that others also provide. e.g. ‘we do that too, but with a difference’.
  • Provided a brand positioning report and direction
  • From this positioning came a brand positioning statement and strapline
  • All of the above now went into creating a new brand and its ID/logo
  • We began the graphic design element using some desk research, developing fonts, illustration and visual perspectives. We employed colour coding, image research and other creative elements/marketing collateral to create something really functional and easy to understand.
  • Provided in depth technical site scoping to give the potential visitor the very best of user journey and slick informational navigation
  • Wire framed the site scoping, to visualise the website more effectively against it content requirements
  • Wrote effective and intelligently considered positioning copy and calls to action plus dynamic contact copy relevant to each piece or relevant service, to engage website lead generation
  • Developed the website, provided 301 re-directs, to capture past cached pages and posts for SEO purposes, unveiled and relaunched!
  • In general, we improved the user journey and calls to action through content and a contact dynamic, re-branded the business, improved the brand visibility and developed its website lead generation capacity

Website Lead Generation

Norman is now called Normans

We now know exactly what Normans do and they are most certainly, ‘not boring’.

See for yourself here @ – https://normansbp.co.uk/

Normans are now successfully receiving leads from the website. Not just any old leads, but the right kind of customers discovered against our agreed customer modelling! It’s been a massive success, their target audience can now discover the perfect solution to a book keeping and payroll problem. Contemporary services and time saving applications, information at the touch of a button. It’s right for them, it’s modern and ‘just what they need’, communicated clearly and concisely through a brand the customer can proudly recommend to others.

Before you rush out and spend £1000’s of pounds on SEO, think about this. Make sure your website has got what it takes to engage, convince and convert your visitor first. Theoretically if your lead conversion is 1% and it equates to £1000 worth of business, we can convert this to 2%, 3%, 5% or even a 10% uplift. You do the math, it’s not impossible to double your websites return on investment. You can apply the SEO later, when you know you can convert.

Normans now ‘Convert Numbers, into Knowledge’… because here at The Marketing People, we help to ‘Convert Knowledge, into Numbers’.

For more information on our website lead generation services, contact The Marketing People on 01543 495752 or contact@themarketingpeople.com

Small Business Marketing – Case Study

J&W Plumbing & Heating

small business marketing

Small Business Marketing – Case Study

One of our ‘local plumbers’ called us to see if we could help him out with some livery for his van? Our small business marketing service was initiated.

So what was the initial request?

‘I want to come and see you, so I can update my van livery, look a bit more modern, maybe look a bit bigger, show people what I do?’

Jon – from J&W Plumbing & Heating

 

‘We could have designed a brand-new logo and stuck this on the van for Jon, but we didn’t…’

David – from The Marketing People

 

We knew that loads of other ‘marketing’ business would have done simply that, taking instructions on colours and then offering 3 or 4 designs to choose from? That’s not marketing, its just providing a pretty picture that bears no relation to the business, or its current & potential customers. J&W chose the right marketing business to work with, we make sure our marketing works!

Over the following few days, we learnt much more about his business. We found out stuff we didn’t know, stuff that wasn’t in his current small business marketing collateral. Any new customer would never have known, without this important consultation. Unless we  made changes that would reflect his business proposition accurately and effectively, his business would not progress as intended.

 

Its not just about telling people what your services are, its much more than that! We needed to capture his whole identity for potential new customers, ‘at a glance’.

 

We set out to put this right.

After several conversations, we had a great brief to work on. This brief answered the following questions, amongst others.

  1. Who was he before, who is he now, who does he want to be?
  2. What did he do, had this changed over the years?
  3. Where did his business sit in his marketplace and how can he improve this position, without overstating what he can deliver?
  4. How big did he want to look?
  5. What and who were his favourite clients?
  6. Which were the jobs that he liked to do, the most enjoyable work, not forgetting the most profitable projects too.
  7. What did the local competition look like?
  8. Why was he different?
  9. How could we best display his work, showcase his skills, work and testimonials. How do we get others to tell us what he does and how he does it so well?

 

As you can appreciate, Jon came in with a simple request, but we added a huge amount value to his small business marketing requirements, we actually want it to work!

 

Through this detailed analysis and discussion about his business, we were able to provide exactly what he required on his business cards, his van livery, a professional email (not a Hotmail one) plus an effective responsive website with consistent social media output and graphic design. Everyone will follow this trail of marketing to validate his credibility, professionalism and expertise, it needed to create trust.

 

J& W StationarySo what happened next…

  1. Graphic design & brand ID (logo) update/refresh – not a full re-brand, we realised through discussion that he would be best served staying recognisable in his local community so a wholesale change was wrong on this occasion.
  2. A short positioning statement/factual strap-line to quickly position his business in the market.
  3. Business cards, more modern, professional, practical, quality without the clutter.
  4. Van livery in line with the brief, graphic design and other marketing collateral to get him noticed, have him look like part of his own team
  5. Full website site scoping to set out the best possible user journey in order to promote lead conversion and easy communication
  6. Full website copy-writing service in line with the brief and marketing conventions. This was to direct and convert potential web visitors and clients
  7. A great testimonial page to best display the work and excellent services on offer, customer testimonials and referral is often some of the greatest marketing out there!
  8. Web design and launch, structurally optimised with a blog attached for regular update and SEO development
  9. Social media graphics to keep all marketing touch points consistent and under control, within the controlling brief

Jon used have the look of a ‘one man band’ plumber, so we helped him to communicate much more than that effectively! We had all agreed that a new logo on his van would not be enough. His marketing needed to educate, inform and tie in all of his business/customer marketing together.

 

We really wanted to make a difference in how he was perceived,

difference is, we knew how to do it.

 

Remember what Jon wanted?

He has now got new van livery, he looks modern, bigger as a business than before and above all we’ve let people know what he does effectively, through each and every touch point.

Have a look for yourselves – //jandwplumbing.co.uk/

And thanks to Jon, we also got a great mention in his first blog! read here – //jandwplumbing.co.uk/jw-plumbing-heating-a-few-changes/

Small Business Marketing

from The Marketing People in Burntwood, nr. Lichfield, Staffordshire, West Midlands, GREAT BRITAIN!

Call 01543 495752 to speak to one of the team about ‘small business marketing’. See how it could change your business for the better.

email contact@themarketingpeople.com

Small Business Marketing – Case Study

J&W Plumbing & Heating

small business marketing

Small Business Marketing – Case Study

One of our ‘local plumbers’ called us to see if we could help him out with some livery for his van? Our small business marketing service was initiated.

So what was the initial request?

‘I want to come and see you, so I can update my van livery, look a bit more modern, maybe look a bit bigger, show people what I do?’

Jon – from J&W Plumbing & Heating

 

‘We could have designed a brand-new logo and stuck this on the van for Jon, but we didn’t…’

David – from The Marketing People

 

We knew that loads of other ‘marketing’ business would have done simply that, taking instructions on colours and then offering 3 or 4 designs to choose from? That’s not marketing, its just providing a pretty picture that bears no relation to the business, or its current & potential customers. J&W chose the right marketing business to work with, we make sure our marketing works!

Over the following few days, we learnt much more about his business. We found out stuff we didn’t know, stuff that wasn’t in his current small business marketing collateral. Any new customer would never have known, without this important consultation. Unless we  made changes that would reflect his business proposition accurately and effectively, his business would not progress as intended.

 

Its not just about telling people what your services are, its much more than that! We needed to capture his whole identity for potential new customers, ‘at a glance’.

 

We set out to put this right.

After several conversations, we had a great brief to work on. This brief answered the following questions, amongst others.

  1. Who was he before, who is he now, who does he want to be?
  2. What did he do, had this changed over the years?
  3. Where did his business sit in his marketplace and how can he improve this position, without overstating what he can deliver?
  4. How big did he want to look?
  5. What and who were his favourite clients?
  6. Which were the jobs that he liked to do, the most enjoyable work, not forgetting the most profitable projects too.
  7. What did the local competition look like?
  8. Why was he different?
  9. How could we best display his work, showcase his skills, work and testimonials. How do we get others to tell us what he does and how he does it so well?

 

As you can appreciate, Jon came in with a simple request, but we added a huge amount value to his small business marketing requirements, we actually want it to work!

 

Through this detailed analysis and discussion about his business, we were able to provide exactly what he required on his business cards, his van livery, a professional email (not a Hotmail one) plus an effective responsive website with consistent social media output and graphic design. Everyone will follow this trail of marketing to validate his credibility, professionalism and expertise, it needed to create trust.

 

J& W StationarySo what happened next…

  1. Graphic design & brand ID (logo) update/refresh – not a full re-brand, we realised through discussion that he would be best served staying recognisable in his local community so a wholesale change was wrong on this occasion.
  2. A short positioning statement/factual strap-line to quickly position his business in the market.
  3. Business cards, more modern, professional, practical, quality without the clutter.
  4. Van livery in line with the brief, graphic design and other marketing collateral to get him noticed, have him look like part of his own team
  5. Full website site scoping to set out the best possible user journey in order to promote lead conversion and easy communication
  6. Full website copy-writing service in line with the brief and marketing conventions. This was to direct and convert potential web visitors and clients
  7. A great testimonial page to best display the work and excellent services on offer, customer testimonials and referral is often some of the greatest marketing out there!
  8. Web design and launch, structurally optimised with a blog attached for regular update and SEO development
  9. Social media graphics to keep all marketing touch points consistent and under control, within the controlling brief

Jon used have the look of a ‘one man band’ plumber, so we helped him to communicate much more than that effectively! We had all agreed that a new logo on his van would not be enough. His marketing needed to educate, inform and tie in all of his business/customer marketing together.

 

We really wanted to make a difference in how he was perceived,

difference is, we knew how to do it.

 

Remember what Jon wanted?

He has now got new van livery, he looks modern, bigger as a business than before and above all we’ve let people know what he does effectively, through each and every touch point.

Have a look for yourselves – //jandwplumbing.co.uk/

And thanks to Jon, we also got a great mention in his first blog! read here – //jandwplumbing.co.uk/jw-plumbing-heating-a-few-changes/

Small Business Marketing

from The Marketing People in Burntwood, nr. Lichfield, Staffordshire, West Midlands, GREAT BRITAIN!

Call 01543 495752 to speak to one of the team about ‘small business marketing’. See how it could change your business for the better.

email contact@themarketingpeople.com

5 tips for successful marketing #1-5 Marketing Tips

5-marketing-tips

 marketing tips

5 tips for successful marketing

Marketing Tips 1-5

Please find below, marketing tips 1-5 in our series for successful marketing, plus an expanded description for each in the blog post below.

  1. Think deeply about who you are, what you do, your target audience and your competition, this should set the tone for all creative and marketing outputs from here on in.
  2. Don’t go to market without developing your brand, positioning and ID thoroughly.
  3. What has worked best for you in past could work for you in the future, plan your strategy now, not when you need it.
  4. Be sure you make a plan, stick to it, update it and make a note of what works and what doesn’t.
  5. What do your customers actually ‘want’ from you? Analyse deeply, what do you ‘really’ look like?

marketing tips 1
Marketing Tip 1

Marketing Tips 1

Think deeply about who you are, what you do, your target audience and your competition, this should set the tone for all creative and marketing outputs from here on in.

Who are you, no really, who is your company? Who are the employees, what do you stand for and why? Is it value, is it expertise, style or cool. What are the pillars that underline your company and how do you operate? Why does this matter? Well it matters because you are unique, your business is different to anyone else’s and as such your marketing should shout this from the rooftops, ‘we are different to everyone else!’ Your USP is your ally, use it. You don’t want to look like the competition, another ‘me too!’. You need to establish what your real values are before you can provide any marketing. Who are your customers, who would be your ideal customer? Again, nothing goes out until you are sure of it all and more.

marketing tips 2
Marketing Tip 2

Marketing Tips 2

Don’t go to market without developing your brand, positioning and ID thoroughly.

Like number one, we should take all this fantastic in depth understanding of your business and develop a brand to fully represent it. All this beautiful, unique information about your business is invaluable and you can use it to discover your true position in the market place. Once you understand who you are and what you do, it feeds the development of how you are seen by your customers commercially and visually. It should represent the value you put on your product or service, your tone of voice, it should be effective and appeal to your target audience. Your difference will provide a memory, it will define you.

marketing tips 3
Marketing Tip 3

Marketing Tips 3

What has worked best for you in past could work for you in the future, furthermore, plan your strategy now, not when you need it.

The most important part of this tip is the timing. I’m not just talking about more complex tactical strategies, I am talking about a more basic perspective. Don’t wait for the quiet times, don’t be satisfied with what you have got. Plan for it now, don’t wait for the recession. Maybe you know when the quiet times will come, diversify, consider them early on and don’t keep making the same old mistakes, look back to look forward.

marketing tips 4
Marketing Tip 4

Marketing Tips 4

Be sure you make a plan, stick to it, update it and make a note of what works and what doesn’t.

I know this sounds a little like tip 3 but I believe it requires some more detailed analysis. Its about being consistent but remaining flexible and open to change. When you have developed this well thought out plan, don’t just stop if it doesn’t work, keep going, it may be a question of campaign length for it to work i.e. one newspaper ad may not get you anywhere, a six-month campaign will bring much better results.

Alternatively

You may need to develop the strategy, continue to update the plan, tweak the outputs and your proposition. Everything we do in life usually involves an update and I don’t just mean the apps on your smartphone, although this is a pretty good example. Most software application business’ have a team of people continually improving the functionality of its product. It might mean smoothing the edge of a button or providing a different outcome for a certain logical process, but the development plan is the same as in marketing. Most of all, its goal is to appeal to and delight more and more users based on the target market. Like in marketing its designed to work, but it can always work a little better. Better marketing means better clients.

Continue to update and develop the marketing output to achieve the desired results. Stick to this plan going forward and update it constantly to move one step closer to your goal. Refine your sales, lose the customers you don’t want and keep the kind of clients you value most. Improve your ‘value proposition’ to potential customers and get the ones you want. Your marketing can do this for you, if you stick to, analyse and update your plan.

marketing tips 5
Marketing Tip 5

Marketing Tips 5

What do your customers actually ‘want’ from you. Analyse deeply, what do you ‘really’ look like?

Improve your credibility, your customer, your visibility. A potential customer will judge you harshly and it will only take them a few seconds to do so. Your window of opportunity is short and so this is the reason why I recommend you take your marketing seriously. You hold the answers and you are great at what you do, but are you really a marketing professional? If you are honest with yourself and believe me, you must be brutally honest, you will get results.

If you are serious about your business, you should be able to ask yourself some really challenging questions. For example, is your business card rubbish? Do you look too cheap? Is your website old fashioned, does it look a bit dated? is the logo a slightly different style in several different examples of your marketing? does your business look like it has any credibility?

BE HONEST. Your business is your livelihood, why would you not take it seriously right?

BE HONEST with yourself, don’t ask friends and family, they are more likely to tell you how great you are!

Find a real marketing professional or agency who will challenge you, but don’t be offended. They won’t hold any emotional attachment, they will view you impartially, just like a potential customer or client. Just because Sarah in accounts is great at adding lovely visual filters to her holiday snaps, does not mean she can run your marketing. So many small businesses make this mistake, indeed external agencies can refresh what can usually bog down internal marketing departments.

Your customers can discount your offering in a millisecond and will judge you instantly. They are fickle, they are dazzled, they need reassurance and they will judge a book by its cover. Your marketing isn’t just informational, it should be transformational. Make sure your cover is good and make sure you can live up to it or else you will ultimately fail. So unless you are incredibly fortunate, make your own luck.

Analyse your business in depth either at the beginning or during a business refresh, or what we call in the trade, re-positioning your business. It will help you to understand your brand, positioning and business identity. Ultimately it will define the image you can live up to, keep it consistent in your marketing and honest in your approach. Your customers will look to you for honest answers. The truth is in you, you just need to know where and how to apply it.

Your Call to ‘Marketing Action’

If you want to discuss your business marketing in more detail why not call us here @ The Marketing People on 01543 495752 and ask Richard about our free ‘business focus’ consultation. Alternatively email richard.brooks@themarketingpeople.com

Challenge yourself, challenge your business, create more opportunities to sell.