Recession, Christmas, Snow…how to fight back with marketing!

There is no doubt that for many businesses the past 12 – 18 months have been seriously challenging. Economic uncertainty has dominated the headlines and the minds of business owners, marketing managers, sales teams and accounts departments.  Christmas, much as we love it, meant a long shut-down period this year due to the way the dates of Christmas and bank holidays fell.

So, there we were, back with a spring in our step on 4 January ready to rock and roll. Then low and behold, the country is hit with enough snow to stop us in our tracks. If, like Mzuri, you and your team were able to work from home and retain some level of normality, you have probably had a slightly less stressful time of it than others. Many of our clients run businesses that simply cannot be ‘run remotely’ – dental practices, air conditioning specialists, retailers, opticians, kitchen manufacturers, garden design and construction companies. Whatever your business, the snow has probably caused a worrying blip in cash flow, a mountain of client work to catch up on and a large to do list for your own business with not enough time to complete it. So, how can you fight back?

Remember, it’s not all bad! Challenging business environments and weather conditions, while testing, do present opportunities to take a fresh look at how you are running your business and looking at ways of innovating to ensure that your business stands out from the crowd for all the right reasons. It also give us time to address what we should be working on, as business owners, and delegate tasks that can be more efficiently and effectively carried out by others, whether within our businesses or outside.

So, my motto for 2010 is that there is a lot to be said for a positive frame of mind and a positive plan of action!  And a cohesive, budgeted, timed and measured marketing plan is a perfect way to take control and get 2010 off to the best possible start despite mother nature’s best efforts to derail us. I’ve taken some time out between Christmas and New Year and while snowed in at home to plan more comprehensively for 2010 and I feel much better for it. I now have a clear marketing and business plan with key objectives determined and a route map of actions, I can now get on with the harder task of implementing my plan. I’ve allocated time in my diary each week to dedicate to precisely that. Call it practicing what I preach!

In my planning, I’ve identified some elements of the marketing mix and just general thoughts which I believe will be key for us and for our clients in the year ahead and something that you might find interesting to consider for your business. The list is by no means exhaustive and I’m sure it will evolve throughout the year (as it should):

1. Websites – website development and search engine optimisation is such a fast paced world that you cannot afford to stand still.  Websites are different beasts now than they were 1 year ago, let alone 3. Take into consideration not only what your competitors are doing, but more importantly how your customers (new and old) are wanting to interact with you online. Then work out a strategy to meet and hopefully exceed their expectations. Consider how you can evolve your existing site and continue to review it regularly, or if developing a website is still on your to do list, make it a priority. Measure the results. We’re taking our own advice and have launched our new website in January 2010 and we plan to keep innovating and changing it going forward.

2. Email Marketing – We’ve already had considerable demand for developing email marketing for clients in 2010 and we’re also currently refreshing our own email marketing in line with our new website. As with all marketing, it needs to be measurable so that you can monitor the results and adjust future campaigns. We’ve set a timetable of email campaigns for our own business which we are going to stick to like glue!  (You can sign up to our newsletter, which contains marketing tips, case studies and special offers at www.mzuridesign.co.uk.)  Regular, timely and relevant contact is the key. Segment your lists so your different messages can be directed at the right people.

3. Information Management – however you do it, whether through a bespoke CRM software or a simple spreadsheet, keeping information up to date is as important as ever, especially if you are looking at email marketing (see point 2 above!). Consider how your database, website and email marketing systems can talk to each other – we have introduced real time and cost efficiencies for clients by doing just that. And make sure you include prospective customers in that management system – don’t let opportunities for business development pass you by because you can’t locate that post it note with the all important name and phone number of the interested party!

4. Innovation – if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got! Try something new, innovate, think outside the box. However you say it, it makes sense to give it a go.

5. Direct Mail – From our experience, most of our clients have had great return on investment on direct mail and the more you do it, the higher your response rates can get. With the day to day work, it can be hard to make clear time for developing and implementing a campaign and following it up. If you don’t think you’ll get the time, delegate to someone else you trust to do it properly, whether internally or externally. Consider your capabilities for following up each new lead and consider staggering the campaign over a period of weeks if that makes things more manageable. Don’t over-reach and end up having to compromise the standards that make your business great. For more information, click here to read Kate’s blog post on top tips for successful direct mail campaigns.

6. Social Networking – Kate is our email marketing and social networking expert and we’re all going to be embracing this more in 2010; she’s made it quite clear won’t let us get away with it if we don’t! If social networking is appropriate for your business, it doesn’t need to be a full time job; clever links between Linked In, Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, websites and more allow you to update, share, link and benefit with much less effort than you think.

7. Don’t forget the basics – do your brand, stationery, documents, fax templates, vehicles, premises, email footers, website, packaing, uniforms, mugs, notepads, answerphone messages, screen savers, art, signage, advertising, brochures…(you get the general idea!) accurately reflect the business you are running. Take some time out to see all these items that make up the image we are projecting and see if there are things you can improve. Sometimes the smallest things can make the biggest difference.

There, a few ideas to get started with! Good luck.