Crisis Is Speeding Up Digital Disruption & Boosting eCommerce

Rainbow in Cairngorms_Real Marketing

The lockdown crisis is driving more of us online, boosting ecommerce and making us go virtual. So, it’s inevitable that more industries will be digitally disrupted during this tsunami of change. What will the ‘new normal’ look like in your sector?

‘Digital disruption’ can be defined as the transformation caused by adopting digital technologies and new business models.

Do you know what’s happening in your sector? Perhaps you’ve moved quickly and already invested in ecommerce, or adapted your own business model in other ways to embrace this new reality or are planning to?

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20 Ways to Continue Marketing With No Budget

Sunset in East Lothian - Real Marketing

You’ve been forced to close your shop, retail warehouse or restaurant, or stop delivering your services, and had to furlough or layoff many of your employees. It’s a very challenging and unsettling time. We’re all trying to adjust to the Coronavirus Crisis as quickly as we can.

You may have already reviewed all your marketing activity and switched off unnecessary marketing spend to reduce the cash drain. This could involve stopping planned advertising in print publications, halting Google Ads campaigns, cancelling events and shows, and turning off other communications channels across the board.

But, some businesses may react too quickly. They stop doing most of their marketing and that can be a serious mistake; analysis from previous crises and severe downturns in 1992, 2002 and 2008 shows that companies who continue to market during a serious recession are more likely to survive, build their brands and grow their profits much faster when the economy recovers and more likely to survive.

When life has settled down a bit and you have the space to think clearly, there’s a surprising amount that you can continue to do to market your business without spending much marketing budget at all. You need to have a plan for your marketing and it will involve some pivoting, perhaps some significant changes to your current strategy. You have to shift to the new normal or your business may not survive.

Remember, the aim of marketing is to buy life-time customers that provide repeat business, recurring revenues. A lot of your profits come from repeat business.

If you own an East Lothian small business (SME), you may well qualify for up to 3 days of Free Expert Help Marketing Support delivered by me through Real Marketing. See the positive feedback from 18 companies that have already benefited from the programme and apply. All businesses taking part have said that ‘they would definitely recommend this marketing support’.

Please use the headings below as a checklist to help you create your own practical Zero Budget Marketing Plan with concrete actions that could help your business survive and thrive. [Please note that this blog has been split into 2 parts of 10 sections each because of its length – if you’re seriously interested, please request the full article].

1. Product Strategy

Your products are one of the key ‘Ps’* in the marketing mix that influence demand from your customers. Assess which of your products and services are worth promoting in the short term: some may have a long lead time which means that the product or service can be delivered post-lockdown; and some may be more in demand. You may even be able to create and launch new products. Be flexible and open-minded. *[Price and Promotion are 2 more of the marketing Ps.]

For products with shorter lead times, you still need to fill your order book for after lockdown. So, pre-book as much business as you can, even if customer appointments or delivery needs to be re-confirmed nearer the time.

Providing excellent customer service is more important than ever. Do the ‘critical non-essentials’, the little touches that will be remembered. Create special offers for your advocates and raving fans so that they can help you through these challenging times.

2. Selling Messages, USP & Brands

Review your unique selling proposition (USP) and selling messages, and adjust them for the current stressed environment. Your messages probably have to evolve. Be empathetic, sympathetic, supportive, kind, compassionate, positive and optimistic.

Taking the right steps will also have a positive impact on your brand: according to recent studies in Asia, brands that ‘deliver purpose in an ethical way’ during the crisis will grow twice as much as average brands.

What problems are you fixing for your customers? What are the benefits that they buy from you (not just the features)? Who are your ideal customers? What are their profiles (personas) and where are they concentrated?

As well as repeat customers with high lifetime values, you need customers that refer you. Customers who refer you are better at selling your products than you are! So, how can you encourage referrals?

I recommend… finding ways to adapt your message to help those in crisis. Avoid any messaging that would make it appear that you’re exploiting the crisis rather than providing value. …At some point, people will become tired of talking about the crisis, and you’ll be able to go back to business as usual. (AJ Wilcox, host of The LinkedIn Ads Show)

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Would Your East Lothian Business Benefit from Free, Professional Marketing Consultancy?

Rainbow in East Lothian - Real Marketing Consultants

Free Marketing Consultancy for East Lothian Small Businesses

Real Marketing Specialists are delighted to have been appointed by East Lothian Business Gateway to deliver Free Expert Help Marketing Consultancy for local small businesses (SMEs). The programme is part funded by East Lothian Council and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Do you have a business based in East Lothian that would benefit from some practical free support with marketing strategy and planning (including your social media and website) to grow your business?

This fully funded consultancy for East Lothian SMEs provides between 1 and 3 days of practical marketing help. At the end of it you will have spent several hours getting face-to-face advice from the marketing consultant, Christopher Lamotte, and have a working marketing strategy in a plan, as well as a clear, practical list of marketing activities to implement. Your marketing will have more clarity and focus, and you’ll have more confidence about where you should invest in marketing.

About 20 marketing consultancy projects have already been completed and feedback suggests that all the SMEs taking part have found it really worthwhile.

Is it still running during this Crisis? Yes, this practical marketing consultancy has already been delivered remotely using Zoom to 2 clients. So, I’d suggest, that now, when planning is urgently needed, is a good time to consider getting some help to fix your marketing. After a comprehensive review of all your marketing, you’ll have a plan for the next 90 days and for the longer term.

“The Zoom meetings worked very well indeed. Initially, I was quite sceptical of the idea but it was probably as effective as any face to face meeting could have been! Christopher gave us a huge amount of help, advice and pointers. It forced me to think very clearly about what we were and weren’t doing! Christopher is a very knowledgeable Marketeer.” (Phil O’Brien, Forth Blinds)

The clients were asked ‘what were the most valuable elements of the marketing support’, and they said…:

“Laying it out clearly – giving us a plan. Not using too much marketing jargon…” (Jacquie, Boardside Cafe at Foxlake)

“Putting together a planned strategy with target deadlines… Analysing our website and comparing with competitors’.” (Louise & Peter McNaught, Hurly Burly Brewery)

“The review of our current situation… The plan for the next 12 months.” (Jason Baker, Jason Baker Design)

“Thinking about my service as a product and packaging it as such.”

“Suggestions of higher pricing. Using customer reviews on our website…”

“1. defining my product 2.competitor observations 3.price review and focus.” (Michelle, Indigo Pursuit)

“1. Marketing strategy and summary. 2. Distilling a customer value proposition. 3. Marketing calendar.” (Claire Mackenzie, Venturing Out)

To apply for this free marketing support, please contact me, Christopher Lamotte, at Real Marketing on 07957 870071 or c.lamotte@real-m.com, or East Lothian Business Gateway (your business adviser if you have one). You need to complete a simple application form. Please note that this support is only available to companies based in East Lothian.

Here’s some more feedback on the overall value of the marketing consultancy:

“Really great service that was completely tailored to my business and own personal needs. Prior to these sessions I had very little knowledge of marketing and how best to utilise it for my business. I now feel much more confident and educated around marketing and the next steps for my business.”

“Christopher really flagged areas that I could improve on that I’d not been very aware of. This was so incredibly useful and gives me another way to really improve on my marketing and ultimately my sales. Hugely beneficial resource for small businesses.”  (Elspeth Fawcett, Yummikeys)

“We felt that Christopher listened to us and took account of our understanding and capabilities when it comes to marketing… We learnt about elements of marketing which we’d previously not considered such as building a YouTube channel for videos. There was also very detailed evaluation of our website which included aspects we had never before considered… It is very valuable to see the calendar with very clear targets…” (Louise & Peter McNaught, Hurly Burly Brewery)

“It was so useful to have a fresh pair of expert eyes look at our marketing. We got loads of great ideas from it and a clear action plan to carry them out.” (Mona Hashem, The Premium Bakery)

“Christopher was very helpful and thorough and listened to us the customer.” (Jacquie, Boardside Cafe at Foxlake)

“Christopher was clear, observant, knowledgeable, patient and a very good listener.” (Michelle, Indigo Pursuit)

“It has really helped us to focus our thinking and also with how we structure our year in terms of marketing.” (Claire Mackenzie, Venturing Out)

It’s really good to hear that 100% of the businesses providing feedback have said that they would definitely recommend this Expert Help Marketing Consultancy programme to other small businesses.

If you answer ‘no’ to some of these marketing questions, you may find this marketing strategy and planning support very useful:

  • Do you have a clear marketing strategy?
  • Do you have a clear unique selling proposition (USP)?
  • Are your services packaged up so that they’re easy to market?
  • Do you know whether you are spending your marketing budget in the right areas?
  • Are your website, SEO and social media really achieving your marketing objectives?
  • Are you generating and converting enough quality leads?
  • Are you making good progress in building your brand?
  • Are you making enough time for your marketing?

To apply for this free marketing support, please contact me, Christopher Lamotte at Real Marketing, on 07957 870071 or c.lamotte@real-m.com, or East Lothian Business Gateway (your business adviser, if you have one). You need to complete a simple application form. Please note that this support is only available to companies based in East Lothian.

You may also like my blog on ‘20 Ways to Continue Marketing with No Budget‘.

Free Expert Help consultancy is also available for HR, Branding, Product Packaging, SALSA, IT Security…

*The photo shows a rainbow, our symbol of hope, in the East Lothian countryside.

The E-Myth: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It

Feet and book on desk - The E-Myth Revisited Review by Real Marketing near Edinburgh

This blog is based on “The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It”
(by Michael E. Gerber)

I read this classic book, “The E-Myth Revisited”, and these are just some of the valuable strategic themes I’ve picked out of it.

The reason many small businesses stay very small and don’t fulfil their potential is that they are set up and run by a “Technician”. The Technician knows how to do the technical work but gives little thought to the equally important roles of the “Entrepreneur” and the “Manager”. These can be different people in your team or elements of our personalities. To successfully run a small business, all three roles must be present.

“You were a bookkeeper or a poodle clipper; a drafts-person or a hairdresser; a barber or a computer programmer; a doctor or a technical writer; a graphic artist or an accountant; an interior designer or a plumber or a salesperson. But whatever you were, you were doing technical work.” (Michael Gerber)

The blend of the Entrepreneur’s vision and The Manager’s pragmatism, together with the Technician’s technical skills are needed to build a successful small business.
Michael Gerber says that the Entrepreneurial Myth, which he calls the E-Myth, is that most founders of businesses may think of themselves as entrepreneurs but very often they are merely technicians.

“A mature company operates on a broad perspective, an entrepreneurial perspective, a more intelligent point of view, so that it works not because of you but without you. A business has to be able to survive and grow without you,” says the author.

The Entrepreneurial Model suggests that a new business must start with a focus on the customer, not with a picture of the business to be created: ”It understands that without a clear picture of that customer, no business can succeed.” This is what marketing is all about, placing the customer at the centre of everything.

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Why All Ambitious Small Businesses Should Build a Brand

Edinburgh Fireworks - building brands and branding

“A brand should be at the core of every ambitious small and medium sized enterprise (SME). If it isn’t, you are missing out on the value and advantages of building a brand and should review your marketing strategy,”  says Christopher Lamotte at Real Marketing.

“You don’t need to build a global brand like Google, Apple or Nike; you can build a local or niche brand, and be highly successful in your region or focused market.

“Most markets are very competitive and standing out can be hard, particularly with limited resources, but building a brand can make your business unique, helping you be distinctive.”

Many SMEs are missing out

Unfortunately, a lot of SMEs are not good at building brands. This can reflect a weak, short-term approach to marketing without enough thinking invested in developing that all-important long term marketing strategy.

The advantages of building a brand

The many advantages are that it can:

  • Differentiate your business, provide a source of competitive advantage.
  • Give a clear market position compared to competitors.
  • Give your company and products a distinct personality.
  • Give your business a clear focus.
  • Create positive attitudes and warm feelings from your target audience.
  • Appeal emotionally to your customers, which is critical when many buying decisions are more emotional than rational, in B2B not just B2C markets.
  • Reduce overall marketing costs and shorten customer journeys to buying your products by encouraging purchasers to make faster decisions.
  • Give customers a perception of superior quality, supporting higher margins.
  • Enjoy additional purchases and higher life time values as a result of brand loyalty.
  • Builds brand equity, increasing the sale value of your business for your eventual exit.

But there’s a lot of confusion about how to build a brand, so let’s start by explaining the important difference between your brand and your branding.

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Beat the Budget: Request a Free Marketing Budget Review

Poorboy number plate - marketing budgets

Have you spent more than £10,000 on marketing over the last year?

You’d be surprised by how many small and medium sized enterprises regularly spend over £10,000 each year but do not know what they spent it on because they don’t have a clear marketing budget.

The financial year is coming to an end for many businesses, so now is a good time to see how you can get your marketing budget to work much harder.

Ask me for a free Real Marketing Budget Review and increase the return from your marketing budget.

Too often marketing spend is ad hoc and unplanned. If that’s the case, there’s a real risk that you’re wasting valuable funds on the wrong communications channels and marketing techniques.

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Beat Your Competitors with a Clear Marketing Strategy

Thinking man statue - Real Marketing Specialists

Businesses are terrible at strategy! Executives don’t understand it. They think it is some type of witchcraft or mental endowment with which one proves one’s manhood or womanhood…

Dr Chuck Bamford (The Strategy Mindset) 3rd November 2016

Many small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) do not have a marketing strategy. This means that companies that do have a clear direction for their marketing, with a strategy and plan, can get far ahead of their competitors. It’s all about having an approach based on long term thinking.

Too often business owners and CEOs work in the business, not on the business; daily operational work consumes them so they don’t spend enough time standing back and ensuring that the business is following a clear long term direction.

You need to have a good understanding of your perfect customers, key competitors and what their competitive advantage (or USP – unique selling proposition) is.

As Dr Chuck Bamford says:

“…Strategy is … probably more like 35 percent science and 65 percent art, but there is a science. There is a process that works. If done with some rigor, applying the science of strategy will separate your company from all your competitors and allow you to earn extraordinary returns.”

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How to Execute your Marketing Plan for Maximum ROI

Key to successful marketing plan is execution

Strategic planning is essential but rigorous, creative execution of marketing plans is fundamental for real success.

Your marketing plan must include a working action plan – a marketing calendar of activities – with agreed owners, priorities and deadlines for each activity. It should also have a defined marketing budget and marketing metrics (KPIs) in place to measure progress.

Unfortunately, many good plans and campaigns are spoilt by poor execution. Lots of small businesses:

  • Don’t spend enough time executing their plans, and miss deadlines because marketing is not given sufficient importance.
  • Only execute part of their plan and do it slowly, missing deadlines.
  • Execute their plan in too hurry with poor quality results.
  • Implement plans without consistent creativity, off-brand and without attention to detail or discipline.

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Is Your Business Built on Solid Foundations? If Not, Put the Strategy Back into Your Marketing

Cockenzie Power Station Being Blown Up

We need to put long term thinking back into marketing to ensure our businesses are built on solid foundations. If not, it could all blow up and come crashing down.

‘Strategy’ is all about knowing where you’re driving your business and having a clear, cohesive sense of direction; knowing where you are going means that your resources are focused and not spread too thinly.

Marketing has become too short term, tactical and dumbed down, particularly amongst small and medium sized businesses. Research shows, for example, that many small business leaders are so busy working ‘in the business’ that they spend less than an hour each month on strategy.

According to Smart Insights, 46% of businesses are doing digital marketing but do not have a defined strategy for their online marketing. A further 32% only have a maximum of annual plans, and only 12% plan more than 2 years ahead.

As managers, we often prefer action to thinking, with time pressures making us tick off the to-do list without knowing whether we are doing the right things that take the business in one direction.

All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.
Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu 1st October 2015

Marketing experts say that we can blame some of this damaging lack of strategic thinking on a potent mix of lack of time, reduced marketing budgets and the proliferation of new digital communication channels like social media. Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest are free to use and accessible to anyone, but can encourage short term, tactical thinking. (They are also time consuming so not really ‘free’).

Marketing strategy defined

The CIM defines marketing strategy as: “A written plan that identifies the organisation’s marketing goals and explains how they can be achieved within a stated timeframe.”

I agree and encourage my clients to capture their strategy in a short, flexible, working plan, but it is even more important to ‘think strategically’ in your decisions and actions.

Developing a marketing strategy is about deciding how best to allocate your marketing budget, your people and other finite resources to achieve the marketing objectives.

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