Category: Marketing

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For this episode I’d like to share an extract from my Marketing Boost webinar where I share how you can be remarkable in your business and why that matters. Credit goes to Seth Godin for the idea.

👋 If you found this podcast interesting you might like my Marketing Club. Join to receive regular tips and advice on marketing, video and the web and Pro Members get access to my live marketing webinars every month, exclusive discounts and other perks. Find out more here ratherinventive.com/club/

My recommendations and advice for a startup or business new to marketing.

Notes

Marketing Fundamentals walkthrough (Foundation)

https://ratherinventive.com/blog/marketing-strategy-foundation/
My recommendations and advice that I have gained from working with over 500 companies in the last 10years. This is the Foundation level out of the series which is targeted at startups and businesses that are new to marketing.

Planning Section Highlights

• Write down three things you’d like your business to achieve over the next 12 months
• Take each objective and note down how you’ll achieve them
• Try writing your company strap line in 20 words
• Describe your ideal customer in 5 words
• Listen to how Gina Geoghegan started her drinks business Wild Fizz Kombucha
  https://soundcloud.com/rather-inventive/wild-fizz-kombucha-interview 

Top Tip: Spend more time on your planning than anything else as every hour you spend planning will save you so much time in the long run.

Analytics Section Highlights

Start setting things up as when you advance to the other marketing levels you will have something useful to work with.

• Set up a Google Analytics profile for your website
• Read beginners guide to Google analytics
• Set up a monthly Google Analytics email report
  

Website Section Highlights

I am assuming you have sort of website, if you don’t skip this section but for now we want to see where you are:

• Grade your website performance
• Make a backup of your website
• Check your website has no page errors
• Update your website content manager and any plugins to the latest version
• Add a cookie policy to your website to be GDPR compliant

Helpful Links:
https://ratherinventive.com/blog/imc-podcast-10-what-your-website-needs-to-be-legal/
https://ratherinventive.com/blog/boiling-essentials-gdpr-first-step-navigating-new-regulation/

SEO Section Highlights

• Check you have a Google friendly site
• Localise your primary keyword
• Research your primary keyword
• Find out the Google position for your primary keyword
• Check home page title and description are eye catching and interesting

Helpful Links:

https://ratherinventive.com/blog/imc-podcast-1-creating-an-seo-strategy/
https://ratherinventive.com/blog/imc-podcast-2-building-on-your-seo-strategy/

Social Section Highlights

A couple of simple things to cover but we go into more depth on the Pro Level:

• Set up a personal LinkedIn profile
• Set up a Google My Business page
• Get Local with Facebook and Google My Business
  

Helpful Links:

https://support.google.com/business/answer/2911778?hl=en-GB
https://public.3.basecamp.com/p/tTQrpkkRZjz1K98PiAvjtiEj

Business Section Highlights

This is everything else, all the admin but all useful stuff

• Understand basic marketing and accounting terms
• Set up a spreadsheet to log your business numbers

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For this episode I’d like to share an extract from my Marketing Boost webinar where I show a technique to better understand how you can marry what you offer to your customers needs.

👋 If you found this podcast interesting you might like my Marketing Club. Join to receive regular tips and advice on marketing, video and the web and Pro Members get access to my live marketing webinars every month, exclusive discounts and other perks. Find out more here ratherinventive.com/club/

Jason Fried on product validation.

‘How do you know if what you’re doing is right while you’re doing it? You can’t be. You can only have a hunch, a feeling, a belief. And if the only way to tell if you’ve completely missed the mark is to ask other people and wait for them to tell you, then you’re likely too far lost from the start. If you make products, you better have a sense of where you’re heading without having to ask for directions.’

I often get asked if a certain page design or ad is going to work before it’s even off the drawing board and Jason’s post echos my thoughts. You just can’t.

Sure something may have worked before, for another company, in another medium but will it work now? I don’t know. But I do know that we can try it out, tweaking the idea until it does or doesn’t. Either way we’ll know for sure.

IMC Club Member Jenny Jarvis from PortlandHouse shares her thoughts and feedback on how the Inventive Marketing Club has impacted and helped improve their business marketing.

👋 If you found this testimonial inspiring join my Marketing Club to receive regular tips and advice on marketing, video and the web. Pro Members get access to my live marketing webinars every month, exclusive discounts and other perks. Find out more here https://ratherinventive.com/club/

My marketing strategy will provide you with marketing resources, advice and guidelines in a simple, step by step process. The advice and tips are very much a foundation level for any startup or business new to marketing.

Most tasks include examples, downloads or the steps needed to complete them as well as insightful interviews with leading entrepreneurs and fascinating blog articles to expand your knowledge.

Jump to a specific category:

• Planning
• Analytics
• Website
• SEO & Content
• Social Media
• Business

I share my thoughts on how to make better use of your time so that you feel more in control of your workload.

Notes

Productivity books / Concepts / Workflows etc

So much info out there but much of it is fluff

Getting Things Done (GTD)

• Ben’s first productivity book
• Capture actions in a trusted system
• Do the small things first

Capture everything

• Note down ideas, actions and thoughts in a trusted place.
• Use Apple Notes, small memo book
• Helps stop your mind racing

Process your inbox(s)

• Clear to zero – Paper inbox, capture system, email Do, Delegate, Delete – Don’t skip anything
• Process your inbox each day
• Set aside time in the calendar

Is it actionable?
Yes: Do, Delegate or Defer
No: Delete, Incubate, Reference

Weekly review

• Collect your thoughts
• Note down in trusted capture system

GTD Podcast

Really interesting podcast, even if you don’t do GTD https://gettingthingsdone.com/category/podcast-2/

Working with email

• Archive emails, don’t file them
• Search when you need them
• Use a clear subject line, so you can find it later
• Only include people that need to see it Filter email (if you can)

Default diary

• Block out regular time
• Share with your team / partner

Don’t let time be stolen from you

• Keep meetings short / request short meetings
• Turn off notifications
• Plan time for social media etc

Don’t write it twice

• Think like a lazy programmer
• Save time
• Reduce mistakes

No excuses

• Get on with it
• Take responsibility
• Just start

Be above the line. Accountability not Blame
Idea from ActionCoach
Helps to prevent procrastination

Exercise

30-60 minutes a day. Walking is fine
Get access to light
Get 7-8 hours sleep (or as much as you need)

Free audio books

Free copies of my fav
Audible books Ping me if you want me to gift you a copy

IMC Club Member Camilla Bengough from Bengough Properties shares her thoughts and feedback on how the Inventive Marketing Club has impacted and helped improve their business marketing.

👋 If you found this testimonial inspiring join my Marketing Club to receive regular tips and advice on marketing, video and the web. Pro Members get access to my live marketing webinars every month, exclusive discounts and other perks. Find out more here https://ratherinventive.com/club/

Learn how to better understand your customer and fulfil your customers needs with more targeted products

Notes

Two ways to address a customer need

• Solve a problem
• Support the life goal

Solve a problem

• Hungry – Need food
• Back pain – Take medication
• 10mm hole – Need a drill / laser cutter / punch
• More social engagement – Need interesting posts / followers / video

Support a life goal

Move someone from where they are to where they want to be

Jobs To Be Done
‘…your efforts should focus on helping them make that change. Ideally the consumers wouldn’t have to do any work.’

• Not to be hungry – Food
• Be fit and health – Medication / Diet / Exercise / Physio
• Sell more widgets with holes Tools / Contractor / Automation
• More leads – Focused sales strategy / Sales team / Outsource

‘When we buy a product, we essentially “hire” it to help us do a job. If it does the job well, the next time we’re confronted with the same job, we tend to hire that product again. And if it does a crummy job, we “fire” it and look for an alternative.’

Question: Why do customers hire you?
Why do people hire the IMC?

Build a customer profile

Start simply, add detail as you learn more

Describe your customer in five words Good place to start
Here’s Ben’s: Passionate Professional, Mac user, 40

Download Persona sheet blank.pdf to help build you customer profile

Customer / product fit

What are your customers goals?
How your product helps achieve these goals?

Customer Goal / Product Aim

• Lose weight / Simple diet
• Feel healthier / Exercise plan 
• Meet new friends / Group meet-ups

Other considerations

Awareness

• How do customers describe the product?
• Where do they look for recommendation?
• How can we reach them?
• What’s your backstory?
• Why should they care?

Consideration

• What do they know already?
• How will they compare us?
• How long will this process take?
• What questions can you help answer?

Decision

• What do they need to know to make a decision? Price, delivery, returns…
• Who will make the decision?
• How do they buy from us?
• And how can we make this easy?

Paradox of choice

We’re addicted to choice
Broadly seen as a good thing
Taken to extremes

Search waitrose.com for “cheese”
564 results found
136 Cheddar products (was 108!)
Choose from Mild, Medium, Farmhouse, Mature, Extra Mature & Vintage (10 products)
Most expensive, No.1 Rollright £29.50/kg

What if I made the wrong choice
Missed a better option
Able to research options endlessly, the internet makes things harder

How do we cope with choice?
Dozens of sizes, prices and features
Opinions from friends, magazines, podcasts
Mental energy to make informed decision
Decision overload

End up differentiating on price
Why we think choice is a good but actually it paralyses us

Restaurants are the worst
Large menu plus specials board
First 10 minutes not deciding
After meal – unlimited coffee choices!
Decisions left un-made by the designer (chef)
We need to make decisions for our customers
Reduce choice and anxiety Increase the throughput

Thali Restaurant
Vegetarian curry house – Bristol
2 set meal times, 2 set menus, one fixed price
Make it easy for me, keep it simple

Use choice to your advantage
Experiment with 2 beers, 80% chose most expensive, 20% least expensive
Add 3rd option, 80% chose middle, 20% choose expensive
No one bought the cheapest – Have 3 options

“seeking the perfect choice is not only a recipe for misery but more than likely does not actually exist.” – Barry Schwartz from book “Paradox of choice”

There is no perfect choice. Don’t beat yourself up about it

No decision is the worst decision
Why we think choice is a good thing but actually it paralyses us

Getting feedback

Helps to understand the customer better and deepens customer relationship

Learn to talk you customers language

Use testimonial text in your copy
Reflect language back in conversation
Use to improve customer persona

Bring your customers closer

A positive review reinforces your opinion of a company
More likely to refer to others

Sign up for a free SayHola account https://sayhola.co

Resources

• What is Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) https://jtbd.info/2-what-is-jobs-to-be-done-jtbd-796b82081cca
• Know Your Customers’ “Jobs to Be Done” https://hbr.org/2016/09/know-your-customers-jobs-to-be– done
• The Critical Path EP156, A JTBD interview http://5by5.tv/criticalpath/146

When Alex Coppock from Communion Architects first approached us in 2012, he was keen to explore ways to improve search engine rankings and bring more visitors to his website. Since then, his website has remained in top two organic keyword positions and website traffic has grown 10x.

Alex has always taken a very thoughtful approach to his website and I invited him to write an article reflecting on his journey with his website. What follows are his thoughts on how he has changed the way projects are featured on his website over the years from a simple way to showcase the buildings Communion has worked on to something that has a much wider purpose. To my mind, the shift beautifully reflects Communion’s generous, people-focused spirit and its mission statement – working closely with people to deliver exceptional projects that transform spaces and change lives.

I’ll let Alex tell the story from here…

And why they are good for SEO

Notes

Review examples
What do I mean by reviews?

• LinkedIn – Shame they are tucked down the bottom
• Google Ads  – With seller ratings – 150 reviews and 3.5 average ratings https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2375474?hl=en-GB
• Local search – Google My Business location reviews https://support.google.com/business/answer/3474050?hl=en-GB
• Added manually on your website – Via 3rd party such as Trust Pilot https://uk.trustpilot.com
• Embed directly on your website – Collected on 3rd party SayHola https://sayhola.co
• On Facebook – Show upfront before any updates. Moved to a thumbs up/down rating rather than five star
• Twitter review – Recommendations
• Podcast reviews
• Helps bubble up popular shows
    

Why are reviews useful?

• Find local contacts
• Multiple keywords

Support SEO

• Get shown in Google map pack
• People more likely to click on your entry
• May also help improve organic rankings

Learn to talk you customers language

• Use testimonials text in your copy
• Helps target SEO
• Reflect language back in a conversation
• Use to improve customer persona

Bring your customers closer

• A positive review reinforces your opinion of a company
• More likely to refer to others

How to collect reviews

• Ask after a positive engagement – ‘If you were to recommend us to a friend what would you say’
• Asking after a few successful deliveries. Want testimonials from long term customers
• End of your support emails
• Ask for review directly on your Google My Business profile . Send people to the review page directly https://support.google.com/business/answer/7035772
• Thank people for their review. A free coffee, discount or other small gift No bribes, keep it under £20

Structured Data (don’t be scared)

• A standard format to identify types of content
• Recommended to add by Google/Bing

Example schema for a company. Provides context to the data Ties together other online identities Added directly to HTML

 <script type=“application/ld+json">{ "@context": "http://schema.org",
"@type": "Corporation",
"name": "Selmach Metalworking Machinery",
"alternateName": "Selmach",
"url": "https://selmach.com",
"logo": "https://selmach.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/medium_selmach-
logog.jpg",
"contactPoint": {
   </script>
"@type": "ContactPoint", "telephone": "+44(0)1432346580", "contactType": “sales"},
"sameAs": [ "https://www.facebook.com/SelmachLtd", "https://twitter.com/SelmachLtd", "https://plus.google.com/117812825186653408748", "https://www.youtube.com/user/SelmachLtd"
], "aggregateRating": {
"@type": "AggregateRating", "ratingValue": "5",
}"reviewCount": "1" } 

Interview with Duane Forrester who helped to develop schema.org
Well worth a listen.

https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?visual=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F559389345&show_artwork=true

Planning your marketing strategy

Notes

Look back at the previous year

• What worked well?
• Do them again or ditch?
• Incorporate the good ideas back into plan
• Review social and blog efforts
• Which networks gave you most engagement? Check profiles are up to date
• What are your most popular blog posts?

 Review ad campaigns

• Are you getting the return you expect? How do you measure this?
• Review your marketing plan
• Vision / Objectives Mission
• Strategy
• Audience Competitors

 Vision / Objectives

How do we want to be thought of? Long term objectives, blue sky visions New products or more family time

Mission

Quantify the vision. What are the numbers? e.g. sell 10 tractors a week

Audience

What are their problems and how can we help them?

Competitors

Who are they? What do they do well? Where do they fall short?

Look ahead

What events can you get involved in? Partner with businesses who have same audience?

Review your website

Easy for a visitor to find out what you do? Is it clear how to buy from or contact you? Do you have reviews on your site? Has relevant structured data been added?

Design review

Design Branding
User Journey Visual Content Mobile

 Usability review

Content Site Layout Menu Forms Speed

Example review
Homepage layout Images

Website usability report

• Increase conversions – make it easier for customers to act (buy, call, or sign up)
• Improve brand perception – your website is your shop window for customers and prospective customers
• External opinion – Why? Objective review, experienced
• Website design and usability report

Seth on his blog

If we decided to simply reduce our waiting and worrying allocation by 50%, just imagine how much we could discover, how many skills we could learn, how dramatically attitudes could shift.

If you have time on your hands, don’t wait until COVID or the Lockdown is over. Use the time now to learn something new.

Paul Boag writing for Smashing magazine on How To Convince Others Not To Use Dark Patterns

‘Brands always used to be able to get away with manipulation because consumers were mostly unaware of being manipulated. Even if they did realize(sic), the choice was limited, and so there was very little they could do. That is no longer true. The web has changed that.

We need to help management realize the fact that consumers have changed. That in every consumer’s pocket is instant access to every other company on the planet that offers the same thing as you. It is so easy to find your competitors and so simple to swap that one small annoyance is enough to make people switch.’

Dark patterns are tricks to make people do things they don’t mean to do. You’ve probably come across them on an airline website when booking seats or paying extra for insurance. Find out more about what they look like here.

While these tricks seem like a clever way to up-sell, here’s an example Paul cites as a reason why dark patterns are not as profitable as they might seem.

‘Sure enough, the sales of filters skyrocketed, and the e-commerce team was pleased because they were one step closer to meeting their targets.

Unfortunately what they were not aware of was what was happening elsewhere in the company.

The marketing team who ran the companies social media channels found themselves having to spend time addressing complaints on Twitter and Facebook.

The customer support team received an increase in calls asking for refunds or complaining. Each call was costing the company £3.21, more than the profit margin on the filters.’

From Wired

‘“My main gripe is that you’re selling a course for $6,000 to a person from middle America who’s put all their funds into this, and you’re teaching them to sell avocado slicers online with 40 other people who are also selling avocado slicers,” he says.’

Get rich quick schemes almost never work out except for the people who start them or sell the courses. Much like MLM schemes and too-good-to-be-true share offers.

It’s a dirty area and best avoided.

• Tips to keep customers engaged and even get some new ones, ready for when the lockdown lifts.
• Easy but effective marketing updates to do while you’re not changing the beds.
• Inspiration to bring people back to you with confidence.

Every podcaster who does interview shows struggles in booking, interviewing, and following up on their guests to some degree. Building rapport is an added hurdle at times too.

On this episode, we continue last week’s conversation with Rob & Kennedy of The Email Marketing Show and dig into the process of preparing, emailing, scheduling, & interviewing guests, and reconnecting with them after the podcast goes live.

If you have a podcast, this episode is worth a listen.

Even though we’re changing tack on the podcast and reducing the number of guests, the idea of using automated emails to get guests excited for when their interview is published is a great idea and something I should have done years ago.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But on Google Maps, it is anything but flattering to find out your Google My Business listing has a doppelgänger. A duplicate GMB listing can hurt your rankings and put your business listing at risk of suspension. Meanwhile, it’s not uncommon to see your competitors spamming Google Maps by creating multiple listings for one business.

Read more about how to remove duplicates on Whitespark

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Genevieve shares her journey into crowdfunding her business and the strategy she implemented to make it a success.

Sponsors for this episode:

• 34SP.com – A Fast, Secure and Managed WordPress host based in the UK. Visit 34sp.com and use the code WPINVENTIVE at checkout to get your first three months of hosting completely free.
• BombBomb.com – A simple way to create and send personal video by email. Visit vid.us/somethinginventive to get 10 video examples from real users.

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Ben speaks with Nikki Elbaz, a copywriter specialising in email marketing for SaaS/tech companies.

Sponsors for this episode:

• 34SP.com – A Fast, Secure and Managed WordPress host based in the UK. Visit 34sp.com and use the code WPINVENTIVE at checkout to get your first three months of hosting completely free.
• BombBomb.com – A simple way to create and send personal video by email. Visit vid.us/somethinginventive to get 10 video examples from real users.

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Ben speaks with Rod Hande, an up and coming magician on what marketing methods he uses to promote his business. Rod also does his first video conference magic trick!

Sponsors for this episode:

• 34SP.com – A Fast, Secure and Managed WordPress host based in the UK. Visit 34sp.com and use the code WPINVENTIVE at checkout to get your first three months of hosting completely free.
• BombBomb.com – A simple way to create and send personal video by email. Visit vid.us/somethinginventive to get 10 video examples from real users.

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Ben visits Sarah in her home office to talk about why she wrote an Environmental policy as a solo worker and freelancer and her forthcoming book ‘Survival Skills for Freelancers (or how to go solo without going loco).’

Sponsors for this episode:

• 34SP.com – A Fast, Secure and Managed WordPress host based in the UK. Visit 34sp.com and use the code WPINVENTIVE at checkout to get your first three months of hosting completely free.
• BombBomb.com – A simple way to create and send personal video by email. Visit vid.us/somethinginventive to get 10 video examples from real users.

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Ronald shares his experience of how he got into the world of WordPress and became a brand ambassador for Yith.

Sponsors for this episode:

• 34SP.com – A Fast, Secure and Managed WordPress host based in the UK. Visit 34sp.com and use the code WPINVENTIVE at checkout to get your first three months of hosting completely free.
• BombBomb.com – A simple way to create and send personal video by email. Visit vid.us/somethinginventive to get 10 video examples from real users.

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Through my Fastershire links, I get to work with many businesses in the hospitality and tourism industry. So when event organiser, Steve Gardner-Collins invited me to come along to the Three Counties and Cotswolds Tourism Forum with a press pass to cover the event, I thought it would be a great opportunity to get to learn more about this sector.

Sponsors for this episode:

• 34SP.com – A Fast, Secure and Managed WordPress host based in the UK. Visit 34sp.com and use the code WPINVENTIVE at checkout to get your first three months of hosting completely free.
• BombBomb.com – A simple way to create and send personal video by email. Visit vid.us/somethinginventive to get 10 video examples from real users.