In partnership with the Business Link, BSA Marketing are holding a free 1/2 day workshop in Glossop, entitled “Marketing on a Shoestring”.
The seminar is a must for anyone tasked with marketing their organistion and who has a limited budget with which to achieve their goals.
Full details of the seminar including booking details are available here
I read an article today in WebPro News regarding an experiment Google are running to allow users to specify the sites they want to prioritise in their searches.
From an SEO perspective this means that different people will see different results thus making the traditional ranking report obsolete.
From a marketing perspective it simply moves the priorities back to marketing. If you have good content on your site, people will list them as preferred, and a good message will get you onto more mainstream sites & blogs that people are already reading. Thus ultimately, the way to measure success is “Are people visiting your site and buying from you”. Now that is true ROI.
If you are looking for evidence of the power of the blog and on-line marketing, this article that appeared in the Times over the weekend may be of interest.
As an approved supplier to the East Midlands Business Link (amongst others) BSA Marketing has access to a number of grants for marketing activity.
One such Grant is the Business Transformation Grant from the East Midlands Development Agency. You will find details here.
Also, watch this space or subscribe to our rss feed to be kept up to date with new grants as we identify them.
We are currently watching Facebook and other social networking sites carefully, as they would seem to offer significant potential for highly targeted advertising.
As part of this, we have launched a company page on Facebook (you will need to be logged into Facebook to view this link).
Alternatively log onto Facebook & search for “BSA Marketing”.
Take a look, and if you want to be kept updated about the potential of adverising on Facebook, become a fan of the page & we will keep you posted.
I saw this post on UK business forums, and although the thread is about light bulb moments & how people came up with business ideas, I though it also gives an inetersting insight into how people interact with their marketplace. So I thought I would share it
How did you come up with your business idea? – UK business forum thread
Currently, there is hardly a week goes by without news of another high street name going to the wall.
However many high street failures can be put down to more than the economic slowdown:
For example:
Max Spielmann – Did not move with the technology
Woolworths – No real identity
Interestingly the one failure that has been rescued is Whittards – a company with a strong brand and a focused approach to the market.
What can we learn from this?
You are best positioned to survive & thrive in harsh economic times if you have a clear, well researched business strategy and are able to communicate this position effectively to your marketplace!
So what should you do in light of this?
Ask your self 3 questions?
1. Do I know why my customers buy from me
2. Do I know what makes my offering stand out from my competitors
3. At a party, If someone asked you “what do you do?” would your answer keep their interest?
If your answer to any of these was no, then maybe you should take some time out to think about your offering and how to differentiate this in the market. In doing this, you may find the SOSTAC planning guide a useful tool.
If you can answer yes to all these then the next thing to think about is how to communicate this to your marketplace.
Now ask yourself 3 more questions
1. Do I know who my customers are, and do I have the relevant information to communicate with them?
2. Can I define my wider marketplace?
3. Do I have an effective and measurable mechanism to communicate with these individuals?
If you can’t answer yes all of these, then you need to take some time out to consider your marketing communications process. In doing this you may find the CLEVQO model a useful tool for understanding the process & identifying where you should apply your resources to best effect.
Although the document focuses on the B2B business development process, it is equally relevant to the on-line retail (B2C) process.
A quick post to wish you all a happy new year.
To celebrate the start of 2009, we are happy to open up our Protx integration offer to everyone. So simply contact us and we will start the ball rolling