Welcome back to the world of work after the New Year break. Whether it is your first day back or not or if you are preparing for the week ahead, grab a cuppa and ease yourself back into work mode gently by reading this Newsletter first.

We hope you had a good Christmas and are raring to go in 2020. We certainly are at Pinpoint Marketing.

The benefits to a Marketing Plan …

If your goal to grow your business or start marketing your business seems very big, that’s because it is! But it IS do able. Just break it down into smaller and more manageable goals and tasks. For example, if you want to promote your business online in 2020, break this goal into smaller tasks like set up Facebook, set up LinkedIn, create a content plan, review your stats monthly, set up a blog, audit your site for SEO. Do this initially (and set a deadline for each one to make sure you get on with it and actually do it!) then repeat monthly/every 30 days.

Or, ask an expert like me to for this for you and create you and your business a Marketing Plan! This can be done in any month, not just January.

Find out more about our Marketing Plan package here

There are 7 stages to creating a Marketing Plan

1. Objective Setting

2. Defining the messaging

3. Defining a strategy

4. Defining the target audience

5. Developing the tactics

6. Implementing the plan

7. Measuring and evaluation

A plan can be created and implemented at any time and the content and timelines can be bespoke to you and your business.

See a sample Marketing Plan package here

No one likes taking risks unnecessarily or spending money if they don’t need to. Here I explain the benefits of a marketing plan and why every business must have one going into 2020. This blog article will be an example of how an implemented marketing plan using a variety of marketing techniques can AND does work.

If you haven’t set any objectives for your company and your marketing activities, how can you decide at the end of the year if you have achieved what you set out to do? Many companies don’t start marketing or don’t review their current marketing progress as things are good and they are happy with good.

Here are 20 reasons your business MUST have a Marketing Plan in 2020:

1.Build foundations for your business eg set goals, branding and messaging, SWOT analysis and more and ensure your campaigns are solid and prepared for

2.Break down a huge overwhelming task into manageable tasks

3.Avoid guesswork and make informed decisions. Minimise taking risks with your business

4.Define your target audience to ensure your campaigns reach the right people. Know you are talking to your customers in the right way with the right content e.g. personalise!

5.Spend your budget wisely by using facts. Save money by doing things once rather than multi times through carelessness

6. Save time by pre planning and multi tasking

7.Identify new opportunities within your market, including analysing your competitors

8.Ensure you use the right blend of the marketing mix. Our plans include reviewing your web and social media profiles to ensure they are working hard for you

9.Get organised for you and your business

10. Know your why and your marketing purpose through defining your objectives and goal setting

11. Identify any potential threats within your market. Uncover problems before they manifest themselves

12.Maintain and grow your reputation to customers, potential customers, suppliers and partners

13.Manage the resource you have internally and externally to maximum capacity. And use the plan doc to keep staff or freelancers up to date

14. Establish your position in the market

15.Differentiate from the crowd and know your USP (unique selling point)

16.Be proactive not just reactive

17.Get your brand out there and become recognisable as a thought leader in your industry

18.Break a huge task into manageable and bite sized chunks

19. Use your plan doc to review regularly to keep on track and remain focussed

20. Be logical with your activity

What is a marketing plan? There are 7 stages to a comprehensive marketing plan including

1. Objective Setting
2. Defining the messaging
3. Defining a strategy
4. Defining the target audience
5. Developing the tactics
6. Implementing the plan
7. Measuring and evaluation

Having a plan will make you more focused and more successful and it will make the most of your budget.

Find out more here

Good luck for a successful 2020 and beyond …

At this time of year we can all be guilty of being too busy running here there and everywhere and perhaps taking people, including customers and clients, for granted. Or on the other hand, December can be a time where we take stock, think about how things have gone and think how lucky we are. Gratitude, especially when it comes to business, can sometimes be lacking.

A big mistake business owners, of both large or small businesses, can make is to take new business and existing customers for granted. I very much try not to do this and always send a Christmas card saying thanks or emails of appreciation and shout outs on social media messages. When I also win a new client, I always say thank you for the new opportunity.  This isn’t a costly exercise and doesn’t take long to do, but be mindful and make someone’s day by saying a quick thanks or give a thumbs up.

So apart from basic manners, why is gratitude and saying thanks and acknowledging where someone has helped you or given you an opportunity so important? Research says it is 6 times more expensive to get a new client than an existing one. (Source – marketing metrics). Therefore, this is why it is so important to look after and continue/start to engage with existing customers. Why? Nurturing your relationships with clients and key contacts will reap benefits for you and your business for both financial purposes as well as longevity of the client and the project or buying cycle. Another stats from marketing metrics says the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 –

70% and the probability of selling to a new customer is 5 – 20%.  So the moral of the story or of the blog is to look after customers, not take them for granted, don’t rest on your laurels and look after them. Client care is key.

 

Read our previous marketing article called is upselling a missed opportunity. Read it on Linkedin here

Whether it is a sign of age, or is it just me, but 2019 went by in a flash! I cannot believe the end of the year is coming to a close very soon.

So how was the year for you? Did you achieve your personal and business goals for 2019? The year at Pinpoint Marketing was a great one, if we don’t sound too boastful here. This year was our 11th year of trading and it went better than we could of ever imagined. We attended over 20 networking events, including with the Athena Network. We also posted hundreds of social media posts, sent 12 newsletters and posted many blogs. We also ran a series of Marketing workshops from September to November, which was a first for the business. We also had articles published in the media too and have given a few marketing related presentations to local, small businesses.

In October last year, we won an #SBS award from Theo Paphitis. We then attended his annual event for SBS winners in February. I was very pleased and priviledge to be asked to run a marketing based workshop at this event. There aren’t many occasions when my name will be on the same bill/agenda as Theo Paphitis. It went well and the feedback was great. Very proud moment.

In March, I then ticked off another dream of attending a masterclass with Baroness Karren Brady and to make it even more of a dream, this day was at the London Stadium, the home of my team, West Ham! I gained so much from this event and from Karren herself. Find out more about her website here.

Then in May time, Pinpoint Marketing won a #WOW award from Jacqueline Gold. This was another great achievement for Pinpoint. Jacqueline is such as an inspirational female entrepreneur.

We also had the website revamped and enhanced, which was another box ticked, thank you to Jo Dickie. Read the site here. And we created new look business cards and flyers to promote the business too. Thank you Alison Joshi.

Finally, the business has again a great year servicing our regular, retainer clients and helping them achieve their business goals. As well as bringing on board many new clients in all types of markets and sectors. We have worked on many projects and campaigns from social media, marketing planning, PR, reporting and analysis and traditional marketing consultancy. We love the variety of clients and of the work and long may this continue.  Thank you to all of you who have given custom to Pinpoint Marketing. We continue to grow as a business and I look forward to seeing what 2020 has to offer …