Energise Your Business Through Marketing

Suffolk Marketing Blog - Moves With Care

2012-01-23T11:27:00.002Z

Happy New Year! New Year, New website launch - this time for a rather unusual business. Moves With Care, are the only business in East Anglia offering a "senior relocation service".

Moves With Care approached Business Vitamins when it became clear their old website was simply not fit for purpose. It was an old design and simply wasn't performing well on Google. So, as well as a bespoke design and build, Business Vitamins assisted with the rewriting of the web content and also optimised the HTML tags to bolster the SEO friendliness of the site. The result? Two new enquiries almost immediately after launch.

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Suffolk Marketing Blog - Danbred UK

2011-12-08T17:39:00.000Z

Business Vitamins are really pleased to announce we've published yet another website! There's nothing like local business, and these guys (Danbred International) are "quite literally" a stones throw away, being based in our home village of Bacton, Suffolk.

It's not all old fashioned farming up here though, oh no. DBi are seriously high-tech, involved with the importing and development of Danish pig stock to produce top quality British farmed pork. Follow the link above to read more - warning - you might want to dig out some of your 'A' level biology notes beforehand... as I said, VERY technical!

Business Vitamins managed all the design, build, contributed to the photography and also assisted in writing some of the copy. The project tied into the creation of a folder and a number of small brochures, designed to promote different aspects of their business.

The website also includes a discussion forum, hosted on the DBi web server.

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Suffolk Marketing Blog - Blackrock Consulting

2011-11-09T16:58:00.000Z

We at BizVits towers are very pleased to announce the launch of another client website. This time, for a search and selection consultancy with UK offices in Kent and Bedfordshire, Blackrock Search. Simple, eye catching and informative were the keywords we were to consider when designing the site.

And whilst it may be a modestly sized site, it certainly looks the part and adds to their branding very nicely!

Business Vitamins designed and built the site from scratch, with just the company logo to work from! What could we do for you?

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Suffolk Marketing Blog - Rail Marine International

2011-09-14T14:39:00.004+01:00

Business Vitamins are pleased to launch the new website for specialist heavy engineering support service company, Rail Marine Industrial Ltd (RMI Ltd). Based in Ipswich and Brantham, RMI were looking for a website which was consistent with their existing branding and colourways, concisely communicated their value proposition and that also fully conveyed their commitment to quality.

Business Vitamins designed and built the site from scratch and also contributed heavily to the copywriting for most of the content.

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Quote: ”Advertising Doesn’t Work!”

2011-08-05T14:37:00.012+01:00

As a business owner who regularly attends many networking meetings, this is a phrase I often hear; particularly, I’ve noticed, after introducing myself as owning a marketing agency.

I tend not to speak furiously about the finer points of my industry at such meetings, but this response always intrigues me. So, a few questions:

Q: What makes you say that? A: We spent [insert fee here] on advertising and never got a single lead from any of the adverts.

Q: Was there a tracking mechanism in place? A: Blank expression/please explain?

A device to ensure that when there are phone/email enquiries they can be traced back to the marketing tactic that generated the enquiry. A: No, not really.

This is interesting – without this, even if there WAS a response the business in question wouldn’t know it had come from that advert.

Q: Where did you advertise? A: [insert name of publication here].

The number of times we hear that businesses have advertised in a generic publication or newspaper that isn’t specifically aimed at their desired target audience is incredible! I suspect I know why it happened, often that “last minute deal” the ad-exec called about. Ignore the price; if it’s the wrong place to start with, why would you want to place an advert there?

Q: What was the messaging about? A: Um, it was about our product / service.

No one cares about your product or service. What they DO care about is resolving an issue or problem of theirs, which may or may not be resolved by using your product or service. The solution is to promote the benefit, not the feature. For example, an accountant might advertise how using their services saves their clients time and possibly reduces their tax burden because the accountant knows the right tax loopholes.

Q: Was it quite wordy? A: Well, yes, we have a lot to say about our [insert product/service name here].

Again, few will care enough to read it. Make any blurb on adverts short and punchy. Less is most definitely more. If there is some small print, fine, make it small or ask people to look at it online instead of including it on the advert!

Q: What was the imagery like? A: Oh, it was a picture of our product / stock photo of someone in a suit. Smiling.

There is a place for a product photo in an advert, but why not have it as an inset? The remaining space can then be used to “sell the dream”, which is marketing speak for promoting the benefit again. Example, you sell taps – show a GORGEOUS bathroom, not a picture of a tap. Services are harder to illustrate, but again, think out of the box and sell the dream. If it’s conceptual ensure it’s not so off the wall that no-one gets it. Try to tie in with the main headline.

And so it continues, after which people start to consider that actually there might be more to this advertising lark after all.

At the risk of re-hashing a guide to advertising theory, failed advertising usually falls into one of 5 categories:

The advert has been poorly designed, doesn’t focus on the potential customers requirements, but at least is in the right media location.
The advert is fantastic, but it’s in the wrong place to reach the desired audience.
The advert is fantastic, it’s in the right place, but has no tracking so you don’t know which of your adverts is working.
The advert is fantastic, it’s in the right place, it has a simple tracking mechanism... but it’s been booked as a one off. A series booking is FAR more effective.
Worst case, it's all wrong and there is no tracking. Of course the tracking part of this is moot anyway as there probably wouldn’t BE any enquiries!!

I once listened to a presentation by a local marketing expert (self proclaimed of course..) who advised her audience to stop advertising if it wasn't working and try something else instead. I would suggest analysing WHY the advertising isn’t working and then make changes accordingly. It's almost certainly fixable.

If advertising doesn’t work, why are there so many of them?

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Suffolk Marketing Blog | The trials of being a mumpreneur

2011-07-21T11:41:00.003+01:00

I think it’s fair to say I’m struggling in the office today. Not because the work is difficult or clients are being awkward, but just because I’m tired. I have a three year old daughter who is usually a very good sleeper. However last night, she was awake from just after midnight until about six o’clock this morning.

When I dragged myself out of bed and staggered towards the shower, going into the office was the last thing that I wanted to do. The cosy warmth of the duvet was calling me back to bed. I was also concerned that maybe my daughter was sickening for something and might need her mum today. After all, she is only three. Staying at home with her was appealing.

On the other hand, I had one client who was waiting for their new website to go live before lunch. Another who needed our graphic design team to finalise the designs of their new corporate identity. I had three adverts to get to publishers and two press releases to sign off before distribution. My business needed me there too.

I’m lucky enough to have my husband as a business partner so I do have options. Our daughter is also in a good local nursery that understands our daily lives and the pressures we face. And, as it’s our own business, there’s no big bad boss to tell me off if I’m half an hour late into the office.

But some days it’s hard to be a business woman, wife, mother and daughter. As a business owner, hours are often not nine to five and I can’t guarantee when I’ll get home. I’d like to think I’m professional so my home life is not mentioned to clients. It’s not their problem if my little girl was up half the night. But I still need to be firing on all cylinders. All I can say is that life as a mumpreneur isn’t all four hour days, relaxed lunch meetings and nipping off mid-afternoon to do the school run as some might think.

Thank god for make up to hide the black bags under my eyes and good quality coffee to keep them open.

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Suffolk Marketing Blog - Your Telemarketing

2011-06-30T14:24:00.002+01:00

'Your Telemarketing' is a new business recently launched by telemarketing expert Laura Morrison. Offering a range of telemarketing services from cold-calling to database cleansing (and much more..), Laura was keen to establish her business as having a very distinctive and recognisable look.

Working from a new brochure design, Business Vitamins ensured the new website had a consistent look and feel about it. We built the site using static HTML but included a client managed news section using a simple content management system.

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Suffolk Marketing Blog - Midsomer Training

2011-06-12T12:22:00.002+01:00

Another website by Business Vitamins goes live!! Midsomer Training offers covert surveillance training and anti-surveillance techniques to a number of public sector organisations such as the Benefits Agency. Whilst it was clear that such organisation aren't going to simply go to Google to choose a new training partner, Midsomer Training realised the importance of "looking the part" on-line.

Although only requiring a modestly sized website, they wanted a bespoke design that set them well apart from other (inferior!) training providers.

Business Vitamins managed all the graphic design and built the website, as well provided all the hosting and domain purchasing services.

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Suffolk Marketing Blog | How Unprofessional!

2011-06-08T15:46:00.001+01:00

I recently found myself chatting with someone at a local business networking lunch. We began to talk about the various events we attend and were surprised our paths had never crossed before. The gentleman in question mentioned one particular business breakfast, but quickly continued with; ‘But that’s only for professionals’. The patronising words ‘so not for you my dear’ were implied but not spoken aloud.

An hour or so later I was driving back to the office and was still thinking about his comment. I felt extremely irritated. There were two things playing on my mind. First, why is marketing often not recognised as a profession and second, being professional is surely about the individual?

Because I’m a marketer, I was not ‘a professional’ in this man’s eyes. Yet, I’ve studied for a number of years; I have a degree and professional qualifications. Clients come to me because of my knowledge and experience to help their businesses grow. But this individual who is a banker/lawyer/accountant/ (delete as you see appropriate) does not see my profession as on a par with his own.

Most people can begin their working lives as an accounts or legal clerk if they so choose, but it takes time and dedication to qualify. Anyone can take a position as a marketing executive, but again, it takes determination and effort to gain Chartered status. Surely, if a person has studied, passed exams and is paid to give advice in their chosen field, they are a professional.

This individual had clearly not considered how five little words allowed me to draw my own conclusions about him. I felt very insulted by his one throw away comment. I cannot change his opinion about Marketing as an industry. To him, it is not a bone fide profession and never will be. However, he considered himself a professional purely on the grounds of his job title. But to me at least, he certainly did not come across as such.

In my opinion, to be a professional goes far beyond the industry sector in which you work. It means being a qualified and experienced expert in your chosen field; giving easy to understand explanations and honest advice. It’s about keeping up to date with the latest developments in your industry. It’s about passing on the benefit of your experience to the next generation. It also means ensuring others never feel inferior or less important than you. It’s about putting clients at their ease and forming relationships built on trust and mutual respect.

There is definitely more to being a professional than industry sector and wearing a dark-coloured suit. After all, those who are members of the oldest profession rarely have letters after their names...

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Suffolk Marketing Blog | Questions Questions...

2011-05-25T15:04:00.002+01:00

You have some lovely customers and you have probably spent a certain amount of money ‘buying’ them. You have probably purchased and given out some business cards. You may have paid for a website and domain name. You may have invested in an advert. You may have attended a networking event or two.

As many people know it is much easier and more cost effective to keep your existing customers and sell to them again, than it is to do all that hard work all over again to get some new customers. Don’t waste money acquiring customers only to ‘throw them away’ after a single sale.

Two years ago, a study by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) revealed that four out of five executives believed that companies were losing sales every year because of a failure to engage with their customers. Furthermore, eighty percent suggested that increased customer engagement would translate into improved customer loyalty, and three quarters said it would translate into increased revenue and profits.*

In the 'Do You Listen to your Customers Survey' conducted by Research Plus+ in 2010, over 50% of businesses that had obtained feedback from their customers said that their turnover and their profits had increased as a result.
How are you communicating with your customers? Are you listening to what they say? What have you done as a result of what they told you? Customers are increasingly sophisticated. In the past you might have told a few people if you had experienced bad service or a poor product. The internet has transformed this. A quick message on Twitter or Facebook could quickly reach hundreds if not thousands of people.

Yes you can ask the questions where you will get praise for things done well by you and your team. Although this is encouraging and can be useful when you want to boost the team, these are not the responses that you really need.

To improve and be able to find out what your customers are looking for, you need to hear their other comments. You need to ask the difficult questions and find out their ideas on how you could improve.

So what are you waiting for? Ask your customers how you are doing. You might be surprised at what they say, both good and bad.

“Embrace the difficult questions and welcome any disappointing answers.”

* Study reported in a blog by Pam McGee ‘Don’t Focus on the Customer; Engage the Customer’ see community.dynamics.com.

Mark Barton helped to set up Research Plus+ in 1993. Research Plus+ specialises in undertaking business research and research on contemporary social issues. This includes customer / client satisfaction surveys and consultations and staff surveys. Most of the research undertaken is designed to help develop an organisation’s policies and practices.

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Suffolk Marketing Blog | Knowing When To Let Go

2011-03-30T16:51:00.031+01:00

In this month's Business Vitamins blog, we have a guest blogger, Jane Cattermole of 'BayTree VA'.

Over to you Jane...

I recently posed the question ‘how easy do you find it to delegate?’ on the LinkedIn East Anglia SME Business Forum group. It resulted in some thought-provoking comments, which showed that delegation is something that’s far from easy for small business owners. This isn’t surprising given that we’ve started out by trying to do everything ourselves, whether for cost reasons or because we’re still in the process of shaping our business and don’t feel confident about briefing others.

However, there comes a time when you’ve got to step back, reassess and acknowledge that it’s fool-hardy to try and do it all. If you find that you’re regularly working into the early hours, then you’re not going to be doing the best by your business or yourself. Indeed for your business to grow you have to recognise that ‘you need to work on the business and not in it’. This means you need to find people that you can trust and delegate to. In the current economic climate, it’s understandable if small businesses are wary of employing a member of staff, particularly if the company has fluctuating work flow or could benefit from expertise in a number of areas.

Therefore, delegation tends to mean coming to terms with outsourcing areas of work, saving you from grappling with tasks that take too long, are beyond your level of expertise or are distracting you from your key areas of business.

A common concern is that delegation leads to a loss of control. But delegation isn’t about abdicating responsibility, but assuming the role of overseer rather than active participant. When deciding to try your hand at delegating, manage your expectations. Delegation is a shift in the way you work and isn’t a quick fix, so acknowledge that “delegation takes time before it makes time”.

Once you start, you may find that delegating becomes addictive, so here are a few tips that might help:

• Write/work out a detailed brief setting out what needs to be done, why it needs to done, who it is being done for and when it is needed.
• Be realistic about the timescale. Allow enough time to take account of queries, other work commitments etc.
• Make yourself available to answer questions and provide clarification. By encouraging communication you are more likely to end up with the result you want.
• Give constructive feedback. You are building a relationship here, so be diplomatic and give praise where praise is due.

You may think, ‘it would be easier to battle on myself’! But when you can delegate effectively, you benefit from an additional member of your team who understands your business, who can be more proactive and altogether more useful, and who gives you the gift of time. Whether you decide to outsource to a virtual assistant, marketing expert, book-keeper, graphic designer or social media expert, it’s worth taking the time to induct them about your business. Have a structured approach to communication, and there’ll be a good foundation from which trust will grow.

Delegate with confidence and you can then concentrate on the strategic and fee earning areas of your business.

Jane Cattermole runs Bay Tree VA which provides freelance PA and secretarial support to business owners, home-based professionals, project managers and consultants. Drawing on over 20 years experience working with senior management, Bay Tree VA provides a wide range of services and was also awarded Best Young Business in Bury St Edmunds 2010. www.baytreeva.co.uk

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Suffolk Marketing Blog | The King Is Dead; Long Live The King

2011-01-19T14:09:00.006Z

For a long time, there has been a business mantra that the customer is king. Today I had a situation where it felt clear to me the customer was clearly in the wrong. So as a business owner, I had to make a decision to go against the grain.

We’re a small marketing and PR agency based near Bury St Edmunds in rural Suffolk. Although we’re not exactly Saatchi & Saatchi, neither are we a one-man band company, and we have a rich and varied client base across East Anglia.

One such client, who shall remain nameless, owed us money for a website we’d designed and built for his business. The site had been live for nine months and the client had still not paid us all the money owing for the job. Initially, we spent some time chasing invoice payment in the routine way. Then we had a call to say the client was experiencing financial difficulties. We worked out a payment plan that suited us both. We felt happy that we had behaved admirably and with understanding. But when the time came to make the first payment no money appeared. So we chased again. You can see the pattern.

After some time, the client offered us a token gesture payment, still pleading poverty. We listened again and extended his credit terms. The story goes on and nine months later, there is still 20% of the invoice outstanding.

So, here is the question. When do you decide enough is enough? For me today, it was not about the money. It was about a feeling I had towards the client. Something was just not right and I felt there was more to this than met the eye. I felt he was trying it on. So, we took the decision to turn off the client’s website until the account has been settled. In doing so, we have clearly lost the client who was angry and accused us of not being understanding of his situation. But why should I accept the sob story any longer? We don’t need clients that cause us this amount of trouble and cost us time and money.

As a small business owner, where customer service is crucial, when do we stand up and say:’ You know what, the customer isn’t always right and I’m going to tell him’. We are conditioned to be afraid to lose a client, and so we bend over backwards to be helpful. But there has to be a limit. We also have the right to say;’ I don’t want to work with you’. That is one of the delights of being a business owner.

So for the first time today I took the decision to abandon a customer and not bend over backwards anymore. And you know what, it feels good.

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Suffolk Marketing Blog | Ensure Radio Doesn’t Drive You Ga Ga

2010-12-22T14:29:00.009Z

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!

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Suffolk Marketing Blog - GL Building Services

2010-12-10T13:25:00.002Z

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.

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Suffolk Marketing Blog - Hardcastle Burton

2010-11-19T22:00:00.002Z

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.

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Suffolk Marketing Blog | How to Make a Business Succeed

2010-11-08T10:18:00.006Z

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.

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Suffolk Marketing Blog | Ruined by Rooney

2010-09-24T13:11:00.004+01:00

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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Suffolk Marketing Blog | Probably - The Worlds - Bright - Dreams - Could be You - (so) Just Do It!

2010-07-30T21:46:00.002+01:00

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?

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Suffolk Marketing Blog - Nationwide Industrial Compliance & Education

2010-07-14T13:35:00.002+01:00

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!

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Suffolk Marketing Blog - Days Sports

2010-06-24T12:57:00.002+01:00

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.

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Suffolk Marketing Blog | Peter Drags on...

2010-06-05T20:19:00.006+01:00

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…

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Suffolk Marketing Blog - Hoskins Brick

2010-05-29T21:39:00.002+01:00

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.

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Suffolk Marketing Blog | When Black Sheep Turn Green

2010-04-26T14:54:00.011+01:00

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?

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Suffolk Marketing Blog - CJE Resourcing

2010-04-19T16:16:00.002+01:00

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.

Business Vitamins managed the design and build of the whole website and had some creative input into copywriting too.

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Suffolk Marketing Blog | "Mundane to Magnificent" Cert PG

2010-03-18T16:33:00.024Z

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..

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Suffolk Marketing Blog | Who wants to listen to me?

2010-02-24T11:17:00.013Z

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.

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Suffolk Marketing Blog - Holovis International

2009-12-21T15:56:00.002Z

Holovis are a VERY specialist technology company, based in Leicestershire. They were looking for a site which closely matched their existing corporate ID (very black, with dashes of yellow & blue). They build hardware for virtual 3D worlds, so wanted certain elements of the site to have a strong sense of depth. Check out the portfolio page as well as the partner page!

Also, Holovis had a very text heavy site before, which they didn’t necessarily want to lose. To sharpen up the design we created a ‘tabbed browsing’ system for the solution pages allowing the user to view more information as required, rather than be presented with long (boring) pages of text.

The home page is designed to reflect one of their products, the JupiterWALL, as seen at T5/Heathrow. Business Vitamins managed the entire project from initial scope, through graphic design, website build and provided all of the copywriting too.

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Suffolk Marketing Blog | Got a Sneaky Britney?

2009-11-30T08:18:00.009Z

Business Vitamins is on Twitter. Yay. And?

Well, we rather like it actually. Let me divulge our Twitter strategy, which, by the way, is no great secret and you’re quite welcome to copy it, refer it on and claim it as your own or simply ignore it.

Here it is…

Ready?

We use Twitter to engage with people who we think might either become clients or might be in a position to refer us to new potential clients.

That’s it. Good eh? Not what you were expecting? No great mysterious cloak & daggeresque dark art? Nothing complicated or overly computery-utery? Nope, not here.

So how do we do this? Very simple really:

1. We signed up (free); we created our background (free); we downloaded Tweetdeck (also free).
2. We searched for local businesses and started following them.
3. We “tweeted” a few snippets of news and local interest information.
4. In doing so we acquired some followers , who, no doubt were searching on some of the keywords in our Tweets – ahhaaa…, did we choose our Tweets carefully?? ;-)
5. We followed people we met through local networking groups and Twittered with them directly.
6. We were ourselves - tough going, with only 140 characters!!
7. We Re-Tweet interesting Tweets that we see.
8. We suggest other Tweeters to our followers.
9. We allow about an hour and a half a week for all of this. Give or take.

So there you go, in less than 9 steps, and in four months we have about 400, extremely well targetted followers.

Let me tell you what we don’t do:

1. Participate in Twitter because we feel we should.
2. Start Tweeting with no strategy.
3. Always Tweet about our business.
4. Always Tweet "special offers".
5. Always Tweet on the same subject.
6. Follow too many celebrities or massive corporations.
7. Allow countless instances of Britney Spears (or similar) to follow us and publicise hyperlinks to iffy websites promoting, well, I'm sure you can guess..

Of course this is just our strategy and it might not work for you or fit with your business objectives. But if your objective is to build a local presence and get your name out there amongst similarly sized businesses, then you could certainly do worse than following the above steps.

Why not follow Business Vitamins on Twitter?

Or find out more about Business Vitamins a marketing agency based near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

Suffolk Marketing Blog | The Perfect Pitch

2009-10-20T11:31:00.025+01:00

Picture this…

You’re in Portugal. On the Algarve. You’re lazily exploring a traditional local market. There are a few bargains and a lot of “designer gear” of iffy provenance. You see daily essentials you might expect to find more readily in a supermarket (toe nail clippers anyone?), as well as a big slice of local colour. For all that, you might buy something, you might not. Who knows?

There’s a stall ahead manned by a somewhat squat, sweaty, moustachioed, swarthy looking gentlemen. He’s selling ladies underwear no less. There he is, thong in hand and held up high, calling “Tiny knickers – Tiny knickers! Buy them here!”, to the young ladies ahead of you.

Upon nearing the stall, the man notices you approaching. The thong is quickly discarded, and a revised undergarment is being paraded around, flaunted at full volume, “BIG knickers! – BIIIIIIIIG knickers! Buy them here!”. A thousand eyes look your way, most of which are accompanied by a rather large smirk. You scuttle off.

True story, and one my mother-in-law enjoys telling, despite the somewhat size-ist connotations! Oh how I laughed when she told me..

I don’t know if a purchase was made or not, doubtful I would think, given her obvious embarrassment at the time. But it did make me think that despite the rather clumsy execution it was a micro-level example of great marketing.

The aforementioned swarthy gent was simply adhering to one of the oldest marketing rules : identify your potential customers, choose the correct product/service for them, tailor the messaging, clear call to action.

I guess the part he missed off was ‘try not to offend anyone’!

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Suffolk Marketing Blog | Peel Me a Cookie

2009-09-17T15:21:00.043+01:00

I love cookies. Particularly chunky ones with lumps of chocolate in them the size of icebergs. Naughty but very nice. I love bananas too. Residing at the opposite end of the healthy lifestyle spectrum, the humble banana is high in fibre, vitamins B6 and C, as well as iron and potassium. In fact, the banana is a veritable smorgasbord of healthy goodness.

Driving back from a long meeting recently, I topped up my energy levels with a gorgeous looking white chocolate cookie. Scrummy. But as I ate, I got a funny aftertaste. After initially writing this off due to tiredness, my second bite yielded the same taste. Bananas!

As intriguing a combination as this might sound, the cookie was not supposed to be laced with essence of banana. I even checked the packaging to make sure I hadn’t picked up a rogue bag by mistake!

On reflection, I thought I might like to try a banana-tinged white choc chip cookie in the future, but that moment’s eating experience was tainted beyond redemption. Simply put, my expectations were not met. No matter how nice my “Banookie” might have been, it wasn’t what I expected.

We all need to be aware of and manage expectations carefully. As a marketing business, we need to be fully aware of likely response rates to various types of marketing campaigns. We think our clients should be too.

Many businesses might be surprised to learn that according to the Institute of Direct Marketing, a normal response rate to a direct mail campaign is “only” 2.6%. Sounds awful doesn’t it? 97.4% of contacts don’t respond! So if your campaign managed a 2% response rate, is that a complete disaster? What if your campaign achieved a 5% response rate? The reality is that whilst a 5% positive response is great, most businesses would STILL feel disappointed that 95% of the letters/cards/postcards/flyers they had paid to be lovingly designed, printed and distributed were so quick to find the recipients recycling system.

Of course there are tactics we employ to ensure response rates are significantly higher, such as multi-touch campaigns or tightly integrating direct mail into other marketing activity. In this way Business Vitamins aim to ensure that at LEAST a 2.6% response rate is achieved.

And to ensure neither our clients or ourselves slip up, we'll also ensure we discuss what you can reasonably expect to achieve. You might be surprised how much!

Banana update:
Try peeling a banana from the bottom and you won't have to
pick the little 'stringy things' off of it. Apparently that's how monkeys do it. Also, take your bananas apart before placing them in your fruit bowl. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

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Suffolk Marketing Blog | No Odd Socks Please

2009-08-20T15:53:00.020+01:00

The faintest sniff of global economic recovery is being smelt right now in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. For it is here that one young couple we know are feeling enough house-market positivity to embark on the arduous process of moving home.

Considering a more rural location, perhaps they’ve reached a certain age where town living isn’t as appealing as it was once-upon-a-curry-night ago. Typically, the impetus for change is being driven by the lady of the house. This hard shove is being felt by none more so than the ‘paterfamilias’, having spent the last few weeks tool-box in hand. All recent spare time has been spent cleaning, tidying, painting, de-cluttering and fixing. No mean feat with a young daughter running them both ragged!

It’s all been worth it though. What was already an extremely attractive property in a great location now has even more curbside appeal. Once inside, it even appears more spacious. Everything is shiny and new for all those prospective buyers to admire. A speedy sale is assured.

Like selling a house, appearance is everything in business. Yet everyday I see small elements that severely tarnish business image. One reason for this is that we’re often told to “focus on the bigger picture”; repainting the door won’t bring us new customers!

Well, yes and no. How do you react to dead links on a website? Do you say hey-ho and continue to browse the site? I expect you return to Google and search elsewhere. It’s not just dead links, typos on or offline, out of date news or poor quality stationery. A recent annoyance is “Twitter Spam” – unsolicited followers offering links to porn, dubious tablets and get rich quick schemes. Hardly the sort of association most businesses would welcome yet they can be blocked so easily.

This is all down to ensuring all customer touch points are inspected and polished regularly. Every one of them speaks volumes about your business and the emphasis you place on attention to detail. Every sub-optimal feature conspires to create an impression. Not a good one either. Few of us would go on a first-date wearing odd socks (no matter how trendy it was) or show buyers around your property without sweeping the floors first so why not apply the same care to a business? Chances are, your customers will reward you.

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Suffolk Marketing Blog | Colonisation by Americanisation

2009-08-12T11:16:00.022+01:00

My father-in-law enjoys a good rant. Although not a grumpy old man, he is a man in his mid sixties; successful in his career although long retired. Whilst it’s not his defining characteristic, he is compulsively METICULOUS in his execution of spelling and grammar. He hates American exports.

He’s really thinking about their language exports in particular. Small pieces of Americana drip-feeding into our psyche. Example: Have you tried renting a film recently? You might have more success renting a movie. Would you like me to post it to you? Yeah, “mail” it to me. Not sure? Do the math. That sort of thing.

Now, he’s not suggesting that our blacktops will be lined with sidewalks or that we’ll be buying diapers and candy with our hard earned greenbacks just yet… but it may happen eventually. Does the gradual colonisation of the English language from across the pond matter though? Language has continued to evolve since, well, since forever. We don’t talk or write like our Victorian ancestors any more than they spoke or wrote like their Tudor predecessors.

So if this has always been happening, why the fuss? I “guess” it’s because the pace of change has increased significantly in more recent years due in part to the proliferation of American television programs; oops, that should be programmes. Also the vast number of websites written in (at best) international English but more likely spell-checked by the U.S. dictionary version of MS Word must be guilty of cultural imperialism.

How does that makes you feel when you’re on the receiving end of Americanized marketing material? I know how it makes my father-in-law feel because he told me. Several times. And in great depth too. It might be fair to say that a younger audience wouldn’t give “a rat's ass” and may even embrace cool, Americanised txt msg style yoof speak whilst the older consumer would much prefer the written word to be spelt in precisely crafted and fully Anglicised English.

The point is that clear audience segmentation prior to any form of communication is the key to successful marketing. A business might have a very wide audience encompassing twelve year olds boys through to octogenarian nuns, but to manage one marketing campaign to successfully engage with them all would be ridiculous to the point of possibly being offensive.

God bless America.

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Suffolk Marketing Blog | Best of a Brand Bunch?

2009-08-03T14:31:00.009+01:00

Happy Birthday to Terry Wogan KBE, 71 years old today!

Revered as a British national treasure despite being Irish, Terry is one of our best loved and most loathed celebrities.

Rising to fame in the 1960s on Irish radio and subsequently Radio One, he moved to the smooth sounds of Radio Two in the early 1970s. He even released a single of his own and annoyingly, one of my earliest memories is of bopping around to Terry’s smash hit “The Floral Dance”. Thankfully Terry’s career in music-making was short-lived and he went on to become the face of his own TV chat show, Children In Need and of course your friend and mine, The Eurovision Song Contest.

Clearly, his long career in Radio and TV has made him extremely well known. And being so recognisable, both audibly and visually, it’s arguable he’s almost succeeded in becoming a brand in his own right.

But can a person be a brand? Or just a celebrity? Part of a brand’s image is its persona as embodied in human form, via likes, dislikes, gender, wealth, age, mood, status and more.

If we’re debating whether Mr Wogan has therefore become a brand, what does his brand represent? He’s Irish, obviously, and probably bald, but ‘Hello Magazine’ has yet to publish the photographs. He’s certainly an irreverent comedian, sarcastic too. He’s managed to position himself as a kindly uncle who’s fun and interesting to listen to (apparently) and yet also appeals to the grumpy-old-man, chiming with the Victor Meldrew streak alive in many of us. But I’m not convinced he’s a brand, to me he’s just a minor celebrity.

At the other end of the scale we have the Beckhams. They ooze glamour, style, wealth, vitality and sex. Cleverly, they entice us with their wholesome family image as well. You can buy Beckham branded products as their scent and clothes ranges have been launched around the world. For many, this allows us the opportunity to be them for just a moment… Back to my question, can people be brands? Surely if anyone can, the Beckhams are a good example?

As consumers, we have relationships with brands everyday via the products and services we choose. The strongest brands pop into our minds through association. For example, the mention of ‘family entertainment’ conjures up Disney for most of us. But a brand can also be a symbol like the Nike swoosh or the shape of the Coca-Cola bottle.

So can anyone actually be their own brand as opposed to being the face of a brand?

I guess that’s open for discussion.

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Suffolk Marketing Blog | Public Enemy No 1

2009-07-22T14:40:00.023+01:00

It's 75 years to the day since John Dillinger was shot and killed outside a Chicago theatre in 1934!

For those not in the know, this is very topical given the recent release of “Public Enemies”, starring Johnny Depp as the aforementioned Dillinger. No doubt this is a film I’m soon to endure as my wife has had a crush on “Pretty boy” Depp ever since he played the leather-clad digitally-impaired hairdresser/topiarist in Edward Scissorhands. Hmph.

The latest Harry Potter romp, a rather dubious sounding “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” (half-blood always meant something else in my day..), was released recently too. Amazingly, just before the start of the summer holidays. Coincidence?

It’s not news that film companies time their release of films extremely well. Most films aimed primarily at children are released in the summer holidays or on the run up to Christmas. I seriously doubt the timing of the Dillinger movie is accidental either.

Even marketers without limitless budgets and access to Hollywood pin-ups can learn from this sense of timing. It all comes down to planning. Public holidays, construction projects, sporting events and even film releases can be spotted and jotted months or even years ahead.

So why is so much marketing reactive? It just piles the pressure on, leaves you wide open for mistakes and being 'last minute' often means concurrent campaigns are less integrated than they should be. One reason of course is that many firms notice what their competitors are doing and then want a piece of the action.

Why wait for your competitors?! Mr Dillinger waited for the FBI and look what happened to him! Oh I’m sorry, didn’t you know they shot and killed Dillinger?!

No need to see the film now Selina…

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Suffolk Marketing Blog | To post or not to post...

2009-07-15T16:06:00.022+01:00

It’s fifty years since the first UK postcode was introduced in 1959!

A nice little factoid and one I’ll certainly file away under “useful gems for the pub quiz”… but so what, surely they’ve been replaced by that ubiquitous item of personal identity, the email address?

I’m not so sure. There’s still a place for direct mail. Yes, emails are probably cheaper than direct mail, particularly when sent in serious volume, but not that much. Yes, measurement of certain metrics is easier (try measuring the open rate of a postcard), but surely the best measurement is that of the number of people responding to a campaign?

Emails can be designed with company values and branding in mind, but being digital media, I can’t help thinking something is lost. Perhaps that’s why email marketing is FAR more effective as a method of retaining, informing and communicating with existing customers than new prospects. It’s just too damn easy to hit “delete” if you don’t know who the email is from, no matter how targeted it purports to be.

Of course the beauty of direct mail is that it’s tangible. When I open a business letter, the senders choice of paper type, paper quality, typeface, printing quality, 1st vs 2nd class stamp, and all those other touchy-feely criteria tell me something about who’s written to me. Often it tells me something positive about them, other times it's a subtle warning. The point is, they’ve communicated with me before I’ve even read what they’ve sent me!

So has direct mail had its day? Is email the new king? Or is it horses-for-courses?

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Suffolk Marketing Blog - Purepricing

2009-06-15T16:07:00.002+01:00

This is a modest sized website for a small business that analyses mobile phone tariffs for the major mobile service providers. They were painfully aware of how dull their services were perceived, so wanted an element of fun to be injected into their site, still being mindful of their clients and so not appearing too “off the wall”. They are very much statistician types, or “beancounters” – and so we came up with the idea of using fingers (to count on..) throughout the site.

We liked the use of the sweets too: mints for refreshing solutions, etc etc! Business Vitamins managed the website design project from initial scope, through graphic design, and provided all of the copywriting too. We didn’t handle the build phase.

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