The Journey of the Success Adviser is a podcast showcasing advisers that support businesses in achieving their aims. I was featured in the Successful Adviser Podcast, sharing the journey that led to formation of Syneka Marketing and our focus on ensuring that success starts with strategy.
Listen to the Podcast at www.thesuccessfuladviser.com/podcast/alexmakin
In April we discussed the topic of assessing marketing performance.
Assessing performance is an important part of ensuring you stay on track with your marketing. Marketing is not an esoteric concept and can in fact be measured effectively.
To measure your marketing performance start by looking at your goals and plan your metrics accordingly. Think about the value of the aspects being measured. For example, measuring the number of hits to your website is meaningless when the real value is in the number of website visitors that interact with your business and respond to your call to action.
Once you have understood what you want to measure, make sure you track your progress. This can be done by setting up processes and tools such as a CRM, which can track the progress of your marketing tactics. Ensure that you measure your performance at set intervals so you can make valid comparisons and analyse information.
We believe that success starts with strategy and that a marketing plan can provide you with the information you need to effectively measure your marketing activities.
In April we also featured some case studies on metrics, which included looking at Woolworth’s “Fresh in our memories” campaign. If the right metrics were used for this campaign, it never would have been implemented in the way that it was.
In May we will be covering the topic of marketing resources, so stay tuned to our social media and blogging presence to learn more.
We look forward to staying engaged with you and will see you next month.
Business over Breakfast is a business networking club that meets each fortnight at the NAB Village. The aim of the group is to exchange knowledge to promote a collegial business atmosphere.
Each session involves a formalised presentation, and this morning I was invited to provide a presentation on marketing and the approach undertaken by Syneka Marketing. Ultimately marketing needs to be redefined. The term has become known for tactics, rather than the strategies that lead to ongoing business success. As a result, many businesses spend money on activities that generate little or no return.
Success starts with strategy, through a marketing plan that considers how to achieve the goals that were identified in a business plan. Understanding the market context, enables you to make informed decisions on how to respond to customer needs, competitive pressures and industry trends. Importantly, this enables you to have a value proposition that connects your strengths with the needs of your target markets.
Having this context and planning strategies based on these insights lets you allocate marketing resources effectively, providing financial savings while delivering outcomes that create a positive impact on your business.
Syneka Marketing is again featured within Inside Small Business, a magazine dedicated to the growth and sustainability of small businesses in Australia.
Our previous feature explored how Success Starts with a Marketing Plan and we have continued this theme to discuss how you can put your marketing plan into action.
A plan provides a guide, but it will only be as good as its execution. A marketing plan needs to be supported by an implementation schedule, to identify the tasks, timeframes, and resources required to achieve your goals.
For example, if you want to increase repeat sales by 20%, then you need to identify the actions that will achieve this outcome. Maintaining regular customer contact is an example of an activity that would often be undertaken to increase repeat sales.
Activities will include a series of tasks and you need to identify each of these elements. Using our example, you may consider an electronic newsletter to help maintain customer contact. Tasks would include the writing of content, the design of an email template and the dispatching of the newsletter.
Always consider the resources you have available, because setting unrealistic goals will diminish your ability to achieve the right outcomes.
Make sure you clearly identify who is responsible for each task, particularly if more than one person is involved. Responsibilities should form key performance indicators to measure staff performance. Timeframes need to be realistic, but should motivate personnel to take action.
Your implementation schedule should identify the outcomes that are expected from each activity. Keeping track of results, enables you to measure the effectiveness of each task and make adjustments if required.
Effective marketing is measurable, so identify how you will evaluate success. An email newsletter would be assessed on the size of the list, the number of people that read the content and whether it leads to repeat business. Evaluate each activity so you can consider whether improvements may be required.
The activities you undertake should support the outcomes you have identified in your marketing plan. Make sure that there are linkages to your objectives, otherwise question why you are spending time on something that offers little, or no value to your business.
Success starts with strategy, this is then followed by an implementation plan so you can deliver actions that grow your business.
Every business needs a plan. A business plan is a comprehensive document that can show you what you need to do to achieve your vision.
A business plan is a future facing document, generally written to cover a five year period. Planning five years into the future can seem daunting. Fortunately, a well developed business plan can help you break down the steps you need to succeed, providing you with a methodical approach on what you can do to work towards achieving your vision.
More often than not, business plans are associated with business Start-Ups. However, any business, no matter where they are in the business cycle, can benefit from having a business plan. If you are part of an established business that is finding it hard to remain profitable, a business plan can offer you solutions on how you can make efficiency gains and streamline processes. A business plan also works well for businesses who want to expand a product line, have changed their structure, or are servicing new markets.
Generally a business plan will enable you to determine your mission and vision. This can be done collaboratively with your staff and stakeholders or your management team. Having a set mission and vision makes it easy for outsiders to see what you are working towards.
Business planning is all about strategy and objectivity. To develop an effective business plan, requires looking at a business from all angles. As a Strategic Marketing agency, we like to not only look at costs, but also revenue raising activities that are achievable over the timeframe of the plan.
If implemented correctly, a business plan can provide certainty around your future success. Success starts with strategy, and a business plan can show you what it takes to succeed.
Success starts with strategy. In a marketing context, this means creative material should not only look good, but also serve a purpose.
Having a strategy behind your creative materials means the difference between meeting your goals: such as increasing sales of a product or service, providing incentives for potential customers to engage with your brand, or to raise awareness of what you have to offer.
Strategy requires planning, research and determining measurable outcomes.
When I work on a creative project, the first thing I do is develop a plan on how to achieve the outcomes my clients require. The plan identifies the information I need to write a creative brief, the research that is needed, as well as time frames to undertake tasks and engage suppliers.
From the research, I determine measurable outcomes that my clients can use to assess the success of the creative project. Providing measurable outcomes enables evaluation, and is a great way to determine return on investment.
Once the strategy is in place, I implement the creative outcomes with my design team. Having a strategy ensures that they understand what they need to do, and the expectations upon the delivery of work.
Creativity through a marketing agency like Syneka Marketing is more than just designing something that looks good, it is about developing content that enables you to achieve your goals.
