To Market Newsletter Jan Feb14 (2)

Newsletter

What’s

January/February 2014

HOT

!

Welcome to 2014 New Year resolutions still shiny and new? The trick is stop thinking about what you’re going to do and get on with it, you can bet your competitors will be! We recently sent out an emailer with “Quotes That Will You Make You Fearless to provide some kick starter inspiration – here’s our favourite:

We have a Start Your 2014 Marketing Resource Kit - request it at hello@to-market.co.uk Jo Sealy

Mobile Marketing You will increasingly be hearing the important of ensuring that your website is mobile friendly.

According to Marketing Week, with more than one billion smartphones in consumers’ pockets at the beginning of 2013, mobile is driving a second internet revolution that’s even more profound than the first one. Just think how many people now use their mobile devices to communicate?

Smart business owners have really cottoned on to the opportunities. Take a look at this brilliant geographical promotion by Meat Pack, a trendy shoe store in Guatemala. When a profiled customer enters a competitors shop (i.e. a specific location) a discount offer being made by Meat Pack is triggered. The sooner the customer can get to that shop the bigger the discount they get – brilliant! Don’t be put off by the long link address, it’s definitely worth a look: http:// adsoftheworld.com/media/ambient/meat_pack_hijack Can you use something like this in your business?

Design Directions

5 Website Design Tips The internet is becoming more and more crowded, not only do you need to have a website, you need to have an outstanding one.

Here are some design tips: 1. Make the purpose of your website clear immediately The internet is fast paced, viewers should instantly see what your business does and what it offers. If your website is complicated at first glance, potential customers with click away within seconds.

2. Make your content readable Website design templates offer a huge amount of fonts and styles, always pick a simple font that is easy to read.

www.to-market.co.uk 020 3284 1978

3. Break up your content Make your content easy to scan by breaking it up into paragraphs or points as well as using headings and sub headings.

4. Be clever with colour Choose just two or three colours that suit the mood of your business for a clean and professional look.

5. Make searching simple It’s important that your customers can easily search for the information they are looking for.

For design enquiries contact: tash@to-market.co.uk

Advertising & Marketing for creatives, food and small business

Client Feature

About Allerguard is an award winning range of quality bedding products which offers comfort and guaranteed protection from bed bugs, dust mites and other allergens. Their products have been scientifically proven to reduce symptoms of asthma and eczema. www.allerguard.co.uk

Marketing Challenge The company had booked its first major exhibition at Olympia and needed a marketing support plan that would make the most of the pre and post event marketing opportunities.

Approach To Marketing created a full marketing activity plan which incorporated the client’s promotional ideas.

This included the exhibition stand design, design of a new sales brochure, event marketing materials, press release activity, media list compilation, press release activity and a direct mail campaign.

Marianne says: “Allerguard was exhibiting at Hotelympia (the main industry event for the food and hospitality market) for the first time and needed help to get the marketing activity running and supporting materials ready for the show. To Market helped us to create a package of exhibition materials which included the stand design, brochure, postcards and business cards. They also helped us to create a marketing plan that targetted small luxury hotels throughout London and the South East and used email marketing to send managers invitations to the event, informed them of us winning an innovation award and sent press releases prior to and during the event itself.

Getting ready for a big show like this means that there are so many things to do - having a company to outsource the marketing activity helped to lessen the load.�

www.to-market.co.uk 020 3284 1978

Marianne Nicolaou Managing Director

The trick is stop thinking about what you’re going to do and get on with it!

World of Mouth

Social Media

Facebook No longer the place where groups of teens plan their weekends, Facebook has become a business tool to be taken seriously, with businesses across all sectors – from local SMEs and restaurants, the multi-national giants and even government departments and hospitals having a Facebook business page. Like any social network, your “Likes” will only grow as your customers learn of your presence, so be sure to add your Facebook page details wherever you can and encourage people to “Like” your business.

TOP TIP Wherever possible, use a photograph or infographic with your Facebook page status updates – it will help your posts stand out from the rest in the timelines of those who have Liked your page.

For social media enquiries email: cheryl@to-market.co.uk

TM takes a look at ....

Setting your marketing budget How much should we spend on marketing?”

We are often asked this question! Some businesses simply use ‘spare’ cash, others set a percentage figure from sales.

This is one of the things we most often get asked. Of course it depends on who you are trying to talk to and what you want to achieve.

Some businesses simply use ‘spare’, others set a percentage figure from sales.

However, we say to our clients that there is another, more measurable way. Consider this how much is the client worth to you?

By that we mean over a typical lifetime of a client, what is their value and with that in mind how much are you prepared to spend to get and keep them?

These are important questions and mean that you need to know the worth of your clients and their typical buying habits to help you to decide how much to spend and when. So, your top 50 most engaged prospects may command a higher spend compared to warm contacts not yet ready to purchase from you. Such an approach does help to focus the mind!

We have a free tool that can help you to plan where to spend your marketing monies just request it from hello@to-market.co.uk or call us to request it at 020 3284 1978.

Intellectual Property Have you thought about what intellectual assets you own and how to protect or exploit them?

Whilst catching up on reading recently we found this nifty check list on what Intellectual Property covers in a brochure from the Intellectual Property Office. There are even online courses to help you identify what you may protect. www.ipo.gov.uk Patents

Trade marks

Registered Design Right

Copyright

Up to 20 years

Rights can last forever

Up to 25 years

(subject to annual renewal)

(renewals every 10 years)

(Broadcast and sound recording copyright lasts for 50 years, typographical arrangement for 25 years)

Protection

Throughout the UK

Throughout the UK

Throughout the UK

Throughout the UK and much of the world

Protects against

Your idea being used, sold or manufactured

The use of your trade mark by others without your permission

Your product being manufactured, sold or imported

Your work being copied or reproduced in communication or performance

What is protected

Inventions

Brand identity, including words, logos and other signs

What the product looks like

Music, art, film, literary works and broadcasts

Term

Advertising & Marketing for creatives, food and small business

g Marketin e Challeng Waltham Forest Small Business Saturday About

To Market was engaged by Waltham Forest Council’s Business, Employment and Skills team to create and deliver a concentrated social media marketing campaign designed to complement the Christmas activities happening in key local areas in Waltham Forest, also coinciding with Small Business Saturday. Small Business Saturday is part of a national campaign to support small businesses both on the day and beyond and it was used to also support the borough’s ongoing ‘Love Your High Street’ campaign.

Marketing Challenge

The Business Team needed to ensure a regular level of engagement online with both business owners and the public was carried out in a relatively short time period – approximately 6 weeks prior to the event.

This activity would support other marketing initiatives in place by the individual key locations in the borough – leaflets, promotion in the Waltham Forest News, information circulated to local business networks, boards and forums and in local news.

Approach To Market liaised with the Business Team to create and deliver an intensive online marketing campaign via its sister organisation, the Waltham Forest Business Network, from 29th October - 7th December 2013 using social media, email marketing and PR activity.

This included press releases and a bespoke press list created for

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circulation to key business and enterprise networks.

Additionally, To Market: • Engaged with local and independent retailers online to promote the shopping incentives and offers available to the public for the event, • Set up social media accounts where required and circulated participants’ information • Set up and managed a registration system for the businesses wishing to get involved • Delivered periodical reports on the progress of the campaign, measuring the number of businesses signed up and the level of social media activity.

Results A successful first event of its kind in Waltham Forest, an engaged business community actively promoting its goods and services, residents made aware of and encouraged to buy local and a happy client – see the Twitter https://twitter.com/WFBNetwork and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ WalthamForestBusiness (scroll down the feeds to view interactions)

Advertising & Marketing for creatives, food and small business