Why does it matter?

On average, it takes 7 exposures to your marketing message for someone to take action. That means they might see your ad in the paper, notice your van driving around, hear someone mention you, pass by your shop, see you on facebook and get a leaflet through the door from you before they actually do business with you.

If they are seeing a different ‘brand’ each time, they won’t be sure it’s you. Don’t forget, a lot of this is subliminal … of course people don’t actually count the number of times they see your logo. But if your product is relevant to them, they will notice it and you want to make sure they know it’s YOU they keep seeing, and not some other, similar business.

The right way to do it

A company that does a fantastic job of presenting themselves consistently is a steam fair that visits our village each year. They have lovely, old-fashioned circus style lettering in distinctive red and yellow colouring. Most of the rides feature the lettering. Their vans are fully branded in the same livery. They even have one with a fairground horse on the top! Last weekend, they were arriving for their annual visit, and there were posters all over the town, stating the location, the times, how to get a money-off voucher. Every approach to the green where they set up had a succession of posters. The local paper had a full page advert. They sent out an update on their facebook page. The vans were driving around.

All this activity used the same logo, the same typeface, the same colour-scheme so you were in no doubt it was them that was coming to town. The result was that all my children could talk about was the fair for days leading up to it. All their friends were going, we bumped into neighbours, friends and colleagues there – it is a popular, anticipated event.

How can you create the same impact?

• Make sure you have a copy of your logo in all the file formats you might need (jpeg, gif, bitmap, png – depending on what you need it for – find out!)
• Always use the same colour-scheme
• Always use the same fonts
• Choose an appropriate style and stick with it

Don’t take a gamble with your brand – take ownership of it!

Recently though, I noticed that I was getting pink smears all over the surfaces that I was wiping. And when you’ve got cream kitchen cupboards, that’s not good.

I wrote to the manufacturers and enclosed the 1 cloth that was left in the packet, explaining the situation. And by return post I received a parcel containing a replacement pack of cloths and a pack of anti-bacterial wipes. This was the letter that came with it:

Dear Jane

Thank you for your recent letter. I am sorry to hear that you have experienced problems with the colour fastness of our cloths.

This issue has been brought to our attention from our brilliant customers and as such we have now changed printers to a new supplier who can provide us with the expected quality and level of colour fastness.

Unfortunately there will be a transition period where stock of the old cloths sells through. So we have placed a customer care notice inside all packs to use the unprinted side of the cloth to clean white or light coloured surfaces.

Please find enclosed a replacement pack of cloths from our new printers. I have also enclosed a pack of anti-bacterial wipes which are effective at removing any red smears caused by the faulty pack.

Thank you for taking the time to report this issue to us. We are always looking to improve our products and your feedback is invaluable to us.

This was signed from a named executive within the company.

So why’s that so good?

1. They apologised straight away
2. They complimented me by saying “our brilliant customers” and made me feel I’d done the right thing in drawing the problem to their attention
3. They acknowledged the problem and explained what they’ve done to rectify it
4. They replaced the faulty product with the corrected version
5. They provided a thoughtful extra, a solution to the problem caused by the faulty cloths
6. They thanked me for taking the time to report the problem
7. They provided a named contact should I have any further comments

The end result is a customer that is willing to share this good response and say what a great product they have, and I have no doubt that I will continue to use this brand safe in the knowledge that they care about their products AND their customers.

Turn a challenge into an opportunity

Every business gets it wrong sometimes. But it’s how you deal with the problems that makes you stand out. Deal with it badly, and you’re digging yourself a bigger hole than the problem caused in the first place.

Deal with it well, and you get yourself a band of happy customers and advocates.

Who is this company?  It’s Sarah Smith, who strangely don’t seem to have their own website. But you can buy their cloths at most major supermarkets and via several online distributors such as http://www.ecohamster.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=9829

One of the benefits of LinkedIn is that it can showcase an individual’s career background and experience. Generally speaking, if you want to get on in the world, it’s worth having an easy to view summary of your skills, your career history and a couple of good testimonials … and LinkedIn does that job very nicely. 

If a small business is run by some key people whose background is relevant to the business, then I would certainly recommend it. For instance, I recently met a lady who was launching a fashion business. Her background was very relevant and impressive, and a LinkedIn profile would add credibility to her fledgling company. It would also be beneficial for her to join in relevant fashion/purchasing related groups and discussions to raise awareness of herself, and also to create relationships with like-minded people or others in her industry.

A consultancy type business should use LinkedIn, again for credibility and establishing previous relevant experience, recommendations etc. Potential clients will often search online to find out more about a business before contacting them. If you don’t have any recommendations, don’t be shy about asking for them. LinkedIn users know that this is a desirable feature and if they have enjoyed working with you, they won’t mind you asking. LinkedIn is very well indexed in the search engines, and your profile may even appear above your own website in online searches.

Make sure you update your status report regularly with something meaningful. Although some people choose not to receive it, the weekly Network Updates that come from LinkedIn give the activity highlights of all your contacts, so it’s a good way to stay “front of mind” of your network.

Having a well thought out Linked In profile is the first step. Joining industry groups within the site, sharing thoughts, opinions and information, making useful connections and communicating (networking) with others is the key to making LinkedIn an effective marketing tool.

Photo credit ThinkPanama

So the prospect of seeing them “in person” before buying them was very attractive, and the fact I could do so at a friend’s house with a glass of wine – even better!  This is why I think it’s a stroke of genius on Boden’s part… I used to buy a couple of items a year, but stopped buying clothes from the catalogue about 3 seasons ago.  I would get all excited waiting for an item to arrive that looked fabulous in the catalogue, only to find it too big on the waist, too long, the wrong shape for me etc.  That sense of disappointment happened once too often, and my Boden shopping habit stopped.  But since then, I’ve noticed friends wearing lovely clothes that I’d overlooked in the catalogue, and on asking have been told “Oh, it’s Boden”.

So when I got the invitation, I was delighted. I could try on 20 items if I wanted, until I found the perfect one. And I did. Boden sold 4 items last night that they would never have done, no matter how many attractive catalogues and email offers they sent through. And I wasn’t the only one – cheque books and credit cards were out all round.

Well done Boden, for reviewing your marketing efforts, looking at alternative distribution channels and delivering what your customers want. Genius!

The first year of the vegetable plot saw us eating carrots twice a day for about 3 weeks… and then no more carrots for the rest of that year. Learning from that experience, we now have regular “batches” throughout the year. And so it should be with marketing. A massive influx of business one minute and a quiet period for months is not healthy for you or your bank balance. And given that most business comes from the marketing efforts you apply, it would make sense to spread these activities over a period of time.

So how do you do it?

First think about the results you need, and when. For example, you may know that the early autumn was quiet for you last year, so need to generate some business for that period. You may also think that you’d like to be less busy in the summer holidays so you can take some time off.  Think about how long it takes to generate business once you’ve done some marketing.  Is it instant, like selling ice-cream? Or is there a long lead time before an enquiry converts into actual work for you? Plan your activity to create a steady stream of enquiries and interest throughout the year so that you can manage the workload and direct it to fill (or avoid) those periods you’ve identified.

In this way you should be able to enjoy the fruits (vegetables?) of your labour all year round!