Less fluff, more focus

How a fully-funded workshop helped gdb bring focus to its marketing.

Mark Vaesen

It’s a question that’s vexed us for years; how on earth does gdb speak effectively to all the different businesses we can help? How can we connect with organisations ranging in size and type from Gatwick Airport to a one-person consultancy?

Historically, we’ve struggled to cut through with our message and the whole thing felt very disjointed. We needed less fluff and more focus.

So when we heard about an offer from Coast to Capital for a fully-funded brand and marketing workshop with an expert, it sounded like just what the doctor ordered.

A thorough diagnosis

The workshop was delivered by Tomango – who are themselves gdb members – and as a team we met with Mark Vaesen over three deep-dive sessions, to uncover where to focus our marketing to have the most impact.

We worked on our Positioning (what we do best and who we do it for), developed a set of Key Messages to use in our marketing, and put together a Communications Plan, so we know which activities to focus on to deliver the best value for money.

Not just theory

I’ve been on many of these workshops over the years, but what made this one different was the way that Mark made the theory relevant to the everyday; yes, we came away with much more clarity about the gdb brand, but also we had some real, practical ways we could put our new plans into action.

The big stuff…and the little nuggets

We all learnt a lot during our sessions. Most importantly, we now know:

• Who we are and what we do best

• What our offering is, and why our members (our customers) should care

• Who our customers are and what problems we can help them solve

• How to reach them, and what channels to use to give us the best return on investment

• What to say to them to get their interest and, ultimately, welcome them as new gdb members

We also unearthed some real nuggets – like how to make the emails we send out to you more engaging, and how to identify and improve the most popular parts of the gdb website.

We know many of our members also find marketing a real challenge. The great news is that you too could be eligible for a funded workshop from Coast to Capital.

Do you struggle with your marketing?

We know many of our members also find marketing a real challenge. The great news is that you too could be eligible for a funded workshop from Coast to Capital.

Now that we’ve road-tested it for you, we whole-heartedly recommend it!

Mark at Tomango has kindly offered to speak to any members who want to apply. You can email him at mark@tomango. co.uk to find out more.

gdb is more than just networking

To demonstrate some of our new messaging, I’ll close by pointing out that this is an excellent example of the extra benefits you can enjoy as a gdb member.

gdb’s much more than just networking – find out about all the benefits you get from your membership at: www.gatwickdiamondbusiness.com/membership