Unfortunately, radio can often be brushed aside or added to a PR campaign at the very last minute. Given the power of the radio to influence opinion, it is a grave mistake to simply ‘whizz the press release’ over to the local radio to ‘see if they might be interested’! There’s no ‘might be interested’ news for radio. It is clear when you have an opportunity to go on air, and here are a few pointers:
By far, the majority of radio stations are local. They are interested in hearing about stories that have an impact on the local community. Time and time again, the news desks at radio stations receive numerous ‘generic’ press releases not specific to that particular area. If your company has a product that could impact every household in the UK, it is no good just telling a local radio station that. You need to find a way of relating that ‘fact’ to their target audience. It might be that there is a local body that recognises the problem your product is designed to overcome or you may have conducted a survey that proves people in that area need to take action. Be careful though, radio journalists have very little ‘air-time’ to play with and even the slightest hint of product promotion will stop them from even considering your story! They are interested in straight-forward news.
It is no good sending a press release aimed at newspapers and magazines over to a radio news desk. It is always advisable to prepare a radio advisory story. Basically, it is a much shortened version of your initial press release and is much more colloquial in its tone. If you are not sure whether it is right for radio, try reading it out aloud – if it sounds like there are too many words and you stumble when reading it, go back to the drawing board and have another go. Make your sentences are short and ensure that each one links with the next so that it reads more like a story. Always try to summarise your story in the first paragraph though, making sure it takes no longer than 30 seconds.
Before you approach the news desk you need to think about exactly who is capable of going on air. They need to be able to speak clearly and confidently and about your company and be unflappable when questioned by a reporter.
It is always best to take note of all the times when your spokesperson is available and if you are aiming to appear on to a live show, you need to be able to tie-in with their schedule.
Consider a third party spokesperson. Somebody willing to talk objectively about the issues you wish to be broadcast will go a long way to making your points more credible. Make sure this person is fully informed about the content of your radio advisory and that they know what you intend to say. Again, you will need to know their exact availability in advance.
Remember, if you cover all these basic rules all that’s left to do is pick up the phone and speak to the radio station. If your story is not time critical, consider asking to speak to the radio’s forward planning desk. They are quite often the best place to start!
Do you need to outsmart your competitors? Contact us now on 0845 310 2457 to discuss what you want to achieve and how we can help you meet your goals.
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GL Building Services is a small family owned and managed construction business based near Newmarket, Suffolk. The owner of the business was proud to have been selected by Forest Heath District Council as an approved provider of extensions and small building services - but had no website to link to from the Council website.
Business Vitamins were selected to design and build a new website. Working with another local service provider who wrote all the website copy, Business Vitamins created the new website in double quick time and set up all the hosting and domain registration as well.
Do you need to outsmart your competitors? Contact us now on 0845 310 2457 to discuss what you want to achieve and how we can help you meet your goals.
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Business Vitamins are pleased to annoucen the launch of the new Hardcastle Burton (.eu) website. Specially designed to target prospects in Germany and Holland, the new site has been crafted to appeal directly to the northern European market.
Business Vitamins designed and built the entire website as a bespoke website design, specifically tailored to our clients exact requirements.
Do you need to outsmart your competitors? Contact us now on 0845 310 2457 to discuss what you want to achieve and how we can help you meet your goals.
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Once your business is up and running how do you move on to the next stage, bring in more customers and increase your profitability?
So you're pretty sure that the initial hard work is all done. Your business is up and running. It has a name to be proud of, rather than an embarrassing innuendo and you've got a handful of happy customers. Some of them are even returning for more so you must be doing something right! Fantastic! So it's all plain sailing from here, isn't it? Well maybe not. There are several business experts that frequently state the first year in business is hard, but the second and third years are the hardest.
Just when you thought you could sit back and have a well-earned rest, even if it's only for a day or two, that's actually the time to pick up the pace. You should be re-visiting your initial business plans & looking at your objectives. Are they still relevant to your blossoming business? If not, now is the time to consider some revisions to help you move on to the next level.
For many companies, the initial projects that go hand in hand with establishing a new business include finding premises or vehicles, setting up a website, printing business cards, sending out flyers, the list goes on. So whether you realised it or not at the time, you were starting to market your business. You wanted to tell the world you'd arrived and were ready to start trading. And that's all important activity but once it's done, what next?
First, take a step back and re-visit your initial marketing projects. Chances are, you set up your website in the early days of your business and printed your stationery as soon as you'd settled on a company name. But is everything on display still relevant? Do you provide the same products and services as you did on Day 1 or have you added to your offering? Are your flyers still generating new customers and are they the type of customers you really want? You should look at these points in a logical order to make sure that nothing is left out of your review.
If you didn't generate a marketing strategy at the outset, now is the time to create one. If you did, now is the time to re-visit it. You wouldn't organise a wedding without arranging a ceremony, sending out invitations, or choosing the flowers. So why would you run your business without any research and forward planning? The very business that probably puts a roof over your head and food on your table needs to be carefully nurtured to ensure its continued successful development. Without a comprehensive marketing strategy, reaching your business goals will be much harder than you'd ever anticipated. But where do you start?
First things first, carry out a marketing audit. This will give you an accurate snapshot of how your marketing looks today. The audit will provide you with the fundamental building blocks for the next step - developing your marketing strategy.
When putting a strategy together, think about such questions as whether there have been any changes in your industry that impact upon your business. Does this mean you need to change anything? What do you want to achieve? What about your competitors? Could you improve your customer service? How does your pricing fit in with those around you? If you change your products or services will you see an increase in profitability? And how will you measure any of this?
If undertaken properly, your strategy will highlight your strengths and weaknesses and give you a clear direction as to where your future marketing efforts should be concentrated. This in turn will enable you to write a comprehensive plan that allows you to play to your strengths and seize new opportunities. And why wouldn't you want to do that!
In the current economic climate starting a new business is difficult enough. Making it succeed is even harder. By following these few simple guidelines, you will greatly increase your chances of success. By having a clear marketing strategy, you will be head and shoulders above everyone else that does not. You put everything into starting your business, now is the time to make it grow and stand out from the crowd.
Do you need to outsmart your competitors? Contact us now on 0845 310 2457 to discuss what you want to achieve and how we can help you meet your goals.
Why not find out more about Business Vitamins, Strategic B2B marketing agency Suffolk.
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I’m not a Wayne Rooney fan.
This stark outlook has nothing WHATSOEVER to do with football, which I regard as nothing more than a noisy, slightly irritating distraction at best. I’m sure our Wayne is a very good footballer and well worth every penny of the £squillions paid for his services by whoever he plays for. (Seriously, I’m not making this up; I actually don’t know who he plays for).
The reason I’m not a Rooney fan boy is because a certain red-topped Sunday newspaper chose to splash 5 pages about Rooney’s (alleged) dalliance with a “woman of easy virtue”.
This highly important news, deemed significant public interest by the news editors, was the major reason the story we WANTED to be featured toward the front of that same paper in that very edition, only made it to page 35! Don’t get me wrong though, the public affairs consultancy who “leaked” the original story did a genuinely fantastic job and the client was delighted with the resulting coverage we spun from the original story.
Sigh, I need to get over it. It’s not Wayne’s fault really. I should remind myself that the world of PR is subject to the vagaries of “news” (or in this instance, meaningless drivel about a 25 year old sportsman that may or may not have had sexual relations with someone other than his wife).
In other words, breaking news will affect the publishing schedule of newspapers (red top or broadsheet).
One thing is certain though. Whatever the news today, it’ll be fish and chip paper tomorrow!
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Over the last few weeks, we seem to have come across an increasing number of companies whose name really doesn’t tell us anything about their business activity. Whilst not a crime, it could present a problem when that business is trying to get their message heard. What amazes us more however, is the number of companies that don’t have a strapline either.
Today, we all search online to look for new suppliers at some time or another. So it goes without saying that our corporate profiles are very important. We need to tempt a prospect, particularly if they are online, to click through to our websites or call us for more information. When presented with the choice of let’s say 10 potential unknown companies, I know I would look at the company whose name and strapline told me exactly what they do.
We all have competitors and need to stand out from the crowd, so the use of a few little words after your company name can make all the difference.
For example, at Business Vitamins, we use "Energise your business through marketing". Perhaps just a touch more well-known examples would be:
- Carlsbergs "Probably…"
- HSBC’s "The Worlds Local Bank"
- Orange's "The Futures Bright"
- Hondas “The Power of Dreams"
- UK National Lottery "It could be you"
- ..and of course Nikes’ uber memorable "Just Do it!"
Having a strapline has many uses. You can also register your strapline as a URL and use it as a tracking device for specific marketing campaigns but that’s a whole other blog post!
Most importantly, your strapline is the key to your branding. It underlines your brand promise which if managed correctly, can improve customer loyalty. Your brand has the power to differentiate your products and services from your competitors - even when those products and services are exactly the same. Audi A3 or VW Golf anyone?
Research has shown 70% of customers are willing to pay a premium for their brand of choice, a strong brand is your most valuable asset.
So why wouldn’t you take some time out to come up with a great little line that could win you new business?
Do you need to outsmart your competitors? Contact us now on 0845 310 2457 to discuss what you want to achieve and how we can help you meet your goals.
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Business Vitamins publish another bespoke website, for Norfolk based NICE - Nationwide Industrial Compliance & Education. Simply, this company provides top level training and consultancy support to local businesses and authorities regarding industrial cleaning. They wanted a bespoke design that positioned their business as "a bit different" from the rest.
Business Vitamins provided all the graphic design and web building, as well as writing most of the copy. The client was particularly pleased with the partner logo cloud - an innovative way in which to avoid any political issues surrounding which of their partner organisations gets listed first!
Business Vitamins publish a new small business website today. Days Sports is a family owned and managed business, based near Bury St Edmunds. They offer a number of service lines including personalised sports clothing (for sports teams), and personalisation of gifts for corporate customers and also events such as weddings and christenings.
The team at Days Sports needed a simple but professional website that clearly communicated their value proposition to new and existing customers alike. Additionally, they had a number of catalogues (in PDF format) which we embedded in their website as page-flipper catalogues - this added an extra level of interest and interaction to the site.
Business Vitamins managed all the design and build of the entire site as well as provided all the copywriting too.
Peter Jones of Dragons Den fame has openly said ”networking is the most cost effective route to market there is.”
I’m not so sure…
Networking is very important indeed. It provides a very enjoyable way to extend your reach, get your name out there and meet potential new clients and suppliers alike. But I believe networking is simply part of a wider activity mix designed to reach a target audience in a number of different ways.
In the interests of pseudo-science, here are some numbers I’ve quickly calculated:
Let’s assume a networking event is 2 hours long. It might take half an hour to get there (and back), so the whole event ‘door-to-door’ is 3 hours. Sound reasonable?
Let’s also assume you’re unlikely to meet someone for the first time, for them to decide you’re brilliant and write you out a purchase order on the spot. Perhaps it takes a handful of times (perhaps 4 or 5?) of meeting people at a regular networking event to build a relationship (and trust) before you’re likely to get either a single direct lead or a referral, let alone close some business!
So, that’s around 15 hours of your time, in total. Stay with me…
The next bit is rather specific to each and every one of us, but let’s say you charge your time at £25/hr. Some people will charge more, some less, but at £25 that networking time has cost around £375.
What’s the alternative? We recently managed a direct mail campaign for a client - the TOTAL cost of which was £770, including design and distribution. That client received 67 leads. Of which, upon qualification, c60% were high quality, real, closable leads.
A one off perhaps? No. We’ve managed similar numbers three times in a row now for the same client.
So how cost effective does networking look now Peter? Who said direct mail was dead…
Do you need to outsmart your competitors? Contact us now on 0845 310 2457 to discuss what you want to achieve and how we can help you meet your goals.
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Business Vitamins are very pleased to announce the recent publication of the new Hoskins Brick website. Hoskins Brick are a specialist importer and distributor of extremely high quality and innovative bricks. They were looking for a fully bespoke design, that helped position them as a key player in the architectural sector.
As well as designing and building the site, Business Vitamins also contributed to the copywriting. Since going live, Hoskins Brick have commented on an immediate and significant increase in the number of the enquiries received online.
Do you need to outsmart your competitors? Contact us now on 0845 310 2457 to discuss what you want to achieve and how we can help you meet your goals.
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We all know that if we continue to consume the earth’s resources at the current rate, the planet is in serious trouble. Whilst many of us recycle as much as possible, how many of us think about sustainability and our obligations to future generations when we go about our business activities?
Typically we think of only larger companies having Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies. But we can all do our bit, even those of us who are working in ones and twos. If you have already implemented recycling for your waste or changing your paper stocks where do you go from there? Looking at the sustainability of your marketing could be a great way to further your green credentials.
For years, marketing has been seen as the black sheep of the business family when it comes to the environment. The bad boys that encourage excessive consumption as new products are launched without a thought. But things are changing. Business owners must now consider the impact and resources their marketing campaigns use.
For those of you that feel sustainable marketing is just too difficult to undertake, consider the business argument. Consumer’s expectations change. Increasing numbers of us buy from companies and brands that are aware of environmental issues and are actively combating the drain on our global resources. Despite the recent economic downturn, ethical spending is up. So by increasing the sustainability of your marketing, you might also attract a new ethically aware customer base. It could also differentiate your brand from competitors, increase your customer retention and brand loyalty. Who would sniff at that?
If you want to begin to look at sustainable marketing for your business, where on earth do you start? My advice would be with a Sustainable Marketing Audit to look at the impact your product or service has on resources. This will allow you to gauge how environmentally friendly you are now and give you some ideas of where you can focus improvements.
First, write out the headings that cover the classic marketing topics of the four P’s: Product, Place (and distribution), Price and Promotion. Next, take each heading, and with your product in mind, decide whether you can or have the ability to apply the three R’s a) Reduce b) Reuse or c) Recycle.
For example, under Product you may ask ‘What is my product made from? How is it packaged? Or how will it be disposed of?’
Or under Place ‘Where is my product made? How is it transported?’
For Price you could consider ‘Does the price include a warranty for repair? Are pricing incentives being used to encourage over-consumption?’
For Promotion, ‘Are the product attributes being accurately communicated to the customer? ‘What resources are being used to communicate the products features?’
While these are only the first steps in setting up a sustainable marketing policy for your business, from small acorns large oak trees grow. And after all, isn’t that what this is all about?
Do you need to outsmart your competitors? Contact us now on 0845 310 2457 to discuss what you want to achieve and how we can help you meet your goals.
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A small business site for a recruitment business looking to expand into the Suffolk region from Hampshire. They wanted a crisp, clean design, with bright images that was very focussed and to the point. They also needed the ability to edit the vacancy section - we used a hosted content management system that was simple for their (non-technical) staff to use. In case you're wondering, the use of fishes was due to how they could be used for future marketing campaigns.. “Feeling like a fish out of water?” etc.
I’m not a film critic who claims to have “seen them all” or plays “hard to impress”. I was, however, astounded recently by something that in many films is usually an overlooked detail.
Subtitles. Oh yes, those slightly annoying words for those of us forced to read them when we don’t speaka-da-lingo. We spend hours with our eyes flicking between the action / drama / suspense / romance visuals and the written dialogue kindly transcribed into our mother-tongue for our reading pleasure. We need them, yet it’s a chore to read them.
Until recently. I spotted a film on TV that ticked enough boxes to suggest it might be worth watching. The nagging worry was that it was Russian! And with the greatest of respect to our Russian comrades, Russia has hardly been the epicentre of cinematic genius to rival Hollywood, Elstree, Ealing, New York and of course BBC Television Centre. But hey, in for a penny in for a Rouble…
Within minutes my wife and I had to rewind the film back a few seconds to check what we saw wasn’t the result of some bizarre collective hallucination. Yes, we DID see the man’s hand move in front of the words. There look, he’s done it again!
Anyhow, for the next two hours we were REALLY watching the subtitles (sad actually!), in awe of the ideas. I’m telling you, the production meetings for subtitling this film must have taken almost as long as shooting the footage.
Subtitles rippling to mimic watery scenes. Subtitles blowing away like smoke or autumnal leaves. Capitalised key words when they were SHOUTED LOUDLY!!!!! N**ghty words in RED from time to time. And many more simple effects, that genuinely added something to the whole film experience. They didn’t distract. It wasn’t a chore to read them. They “leveraged additional value” in finance-speak!
So… what mundane, chore-like, overlooked detail in your business can you change so radically that not only does it add value, it sets you apart and makes your entire business more memorable?
Answers in the comments box please..Do you need to outsmart your competitors? Contact us now on 0845 310 2457 to discuss what you want to achieve and how we can help you meet your goals.
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Last night I battled through the sleet and snow to attend one of my usual networking meetings. It’s a great group and the attendees have huge amounts of energy and enthusiasm for their work. It’s the kind of meeting that feels more like a night out with friends than a formal environment where I can build professional relationships.
Our presenter was a chap called Euan Semple. Some of you may have heard of him. He worked as the Director of Knowledge Management at the BBC for many years. And his topic for the night was ‘Working in a Wired World’ which as a Marketer, really appealed to me. The subject matter covered all manner of things from how easy it has become to publish on the internet, to the benefits of Twitter for business.
But the main thing I took away from the night, was how well Mr Semple communicated. I don’t just mean his natural ability for public speaking. I mean how he effectively uses so many tools that are available to all of us, to get his message ‘out there’.
In my professional capacity, I talk to numerous businesses of varying sizes. And what still amazes me, is how many of them are afraid of Social Media and the internet. The common feeling seems to be that they want to blog or tweet or have a fan page but they don’t know where to start or what to say. So they do nothing.
If you fall into this category, now is the time for action. Things are only going to develop further and you could feel even more left behind. Social Media is here to stay so now is the time to jump right in. Spend some time online researching the various options that are out there. Choose one or two sites that you think might work for you and/or your business. Then just watch what other people are doing.
I can guarantee that you will soon get the hang of things and one day, you will feel compelled to offer your opinion on someone’s blog, or respond to a tweet. And before you know it, you’ll be engaging with people online and building all manner of relationships that you can call on for help, advice or a good old argument. You might even look back and regret not getting involved sooner.
After all, in its most simplistic terms, social media is just a new name for an old pastime: Communication.
Do you need to outsmart your competitors? Contact us now on 0845 310 2457 to discuss what you want to achieve and how we can help you meet your goals.
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By far, the majority of radio stations are local. They are interested in hearing about stories that have an impact on the local community. Time and time again, the news desks at radio stations receive numerous ‘generic’ press releases not specific to that particular area. If your company has a product that could impact every household in the UK, it is no good just telling a local radio station that. You need to find a way of relating that ‘fact’ to their target audience. It might be that there is a local body that recognises the problem your product is designed to overcome or you may have conducted a survey that proves people in that area need to take action. Be careful though, radio journalists have very little ‘air-time’ to play with and even the slightest hint of product promotion will stop them from even considering your story! They are interested in straight-forward news.
