Marketing Study Lab - Actionable Marketing Knowledge

Marketing Study Lab - Actionable Marketing Knowledge

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Marketing Study Lab - Actionable Marketing Knowledge episodes

  • Achieving Career Happiness with Lucia Knight a Career Happiness Designer - Episode 74

    Subscribe on your favourite platform with new episodes appearing every TUESDAY:Spotify Libsyn Podcast Page TuneIN Stitcher iHeartRadio Apple Podcasts 

    Guest and Episode LinksLucia Knight https://www.midlifeunstuck.com 

    Books:X Change: How to torch your work treadmill - Lucia Knight: https://amzn.to/30Awfto

    Designing Your Life – Bill Burnett and Dave Evans: https://amzn.to/30Hi7OU

    Enjoy the Episode - Happy Marketing!www.marketingstudylab.co.uk https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersumpton/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketingstudylab/ https://twitter.com/cousinp81(@cousinp81)

    Intro

    We continue our look at the 4C’s of Marketing Communication and provide a little clarity around this topic later, that being clarity is one of the 4C’s so we’ll be discussing clarity, not clarity of the 4C’s….is that clear?

    We’ll sort that out later.

    First, let’s meet Lucia Knight, Career Happiness Designer and author of X Change: How to torch your work treadmill, or to give it its full title:

    X Change: How to torch your work treadmill, retire your boss, dump the ingrates, torment the passive-aggressives, escape the toxic office, get your fierce on and design the career that lets you live, love and laugh after 40

    After going back to university to study Philosophy (as well as being a full-time Mum), Lucia discovered that in order to get a life and career that is meaningful and satisfying then the best way to do this is to have at least a little structure in how you are going to achieve this – I’ll let Lucia explain this in a little more detail.

     

    Takeaways

    - Are you doing work that matters? (a good old Seth Godin proverb there – total misuse of proverb I’m sure). But this statement, as Lucia highlighted - it’s massively important that you are. And there are a number of elements to consider to help you figure this out:

    1 – You need to find your uber or super strength (and who doesn't want to feel like a hero)?

    2 – Is your work deeply fulfilling or satisfying?

    3 – What problems would you be happy to be figuring out for years?

    If we can start to think on these terms we will start to do the work we love.

    - When searching for a meaningful career, don’t just ‘hit and hope’. To do this correctly you need to start a framework from which you can start to make the right decisions and take actions against. Like following a recipe

    - Focus on one thing at a time and make sure you are maximizing this time, regardless of what it is: family, study, work, chilling, even sleep as this is a huge proponent on how the rest of your day will pan out, physically and mentally.

     

    Top Tip – The 4C's of Marketing Communication: Clarity

    If you’ve ever been confused by anything, ever, you’ll understand why clarity is so important within any Marketing Communications.

    Take the last thing that confused you. Mines probably my shoe laces, but you get the idea. Now think how you felt towards this thing. Comfortable? No, Attracted to it? No, Any affiliation...

    39 min
  • Marketing Starts by Understanding the Customer with Louis Grenier Owner of EveryoneHatesMarketers.com – Episode 73

    Guest LinksLouis Grenier https://everyonehatesmarketers.com

    Books:The 1-Page Marketing Plan – Allan Dib: https://amzn.to/2YJz7mYBrainfluence – Roger Dooley: https://amzn.to/2LMCFSb

    Enjoy the Episode - Happy Marketing!www.marketingstudylab.co.uk https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersumpton/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketingstudylab/ https://twitter.com/cousinp81(@cousinp81)

     

    Intro

    Of course I’m going to start with a review of the 4 C’s of Marketing Communications by discussing, Consistency, which I’m hoping to achieve through this weekly podcast. Am I? Maybe let me know if I’m not and I can look to change things around, or if I am, just drop me a note to say, good job, you’ll find me on LinkedIn or email me at [email protected].

    Anyway, lets meet our guest this week, Louis Grenier, the owner of everyonehatesmarketers.com and Content Lead at Hotjar (an amazing piece of software for tracking website visitors). But today we are more interested in why everyone hates Marketers. It’s easy to see why, as on the face of it Marketing is either seen as intrusive to our lives, fancy advertising or playing around with social media. But this is on the outside and as we all know, good marketing, quality marketing, a marketing orientated approach is so much more than paying lip services to something.

    Louis has spent a career, no a passionate obsession on Marketing and through his podcast highlights the shady, aggressive marketing world for what it is, while being an advocate for helpful, respectful, personal and above all else honest marketing.

    I have to apologies now, as this first question is the epitome of stereotyping as you’ll understand by Louis amazing accent - Louis What is your favourite wine?

     

    Takeaways

    - Focus on understanding your audience first and the go from there. Everything stems from understanding your target market, what they want and why. If you don't do this ask yourself, where should I start instead – I’m pretty sure you won’t be left with many, if any other options.

    - This leads nicely onto where to start on your road to success, which would be interviewing five customers, digging deep into their actual customer journey, from the moment they realised they had a problem to the point of purchase and work from there. From this you’ll be able to discover a lot more about your customers than just ‘what’ they purchased, you’ll be digging into the ‘why’!

    - If you want to avoid the shady and aggressive marketing tactics simply do as Louis says – If you wouldn't do it to your friends, then don’t do it!

     

    Top Tip - The 4C's of Marketing Communication: Consistency

    Think of a brand or a company or a product or a service. These may change over time. What they offer, the personnel, location, logo, etc. But one thing is for sure, whatever you are thinking of will have resonated with you for their consistency in approach. And by maintaining this consistency, they have become memorable to you.

    A consistent message will eventually break through the myriad of communication noise we have around us becoming more noticeable, memorable, with a recollection for what they offer becoming easier over time.

    The whistle at the end of a fast food chains advert, the chime made when a computer processor is mentioned and of course – Meercats. All of these, although I haven’t mentioned their company names are instantly recognizable because of their consistent and yes, something annoying approach to communication.

     

    Music Featured on this...

    36 min
  • Making Copywriting Interesting with Victoria Doxat a Freelance Copywriter - Episode 72

     LinksVictoria Doxat https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-doxat/ https://victoriadoxat.com

    Books:Influence – Robert Cialdini: https://amzn.to/2ITaRtf

    Enjoy the Episode - Happy Marketing!www.marketingstudylab.co.uk https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersumpton/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketingstudylab/ https://twitter.com/cousinp81(@cousinp81)

     

    The communications mix and the marketing mix are two very different things, but they are also intertwined, which we’ll find out about later on.

    First, let’s meet Victoria Doxat, a copywriter who specialises copy, - or should that be content…… Victoria will explain the difference in a minute - for B2B clients ranging from entrepreneurs and SMEs, to large corporations. It takes a special kind of person to be able to go deep into topics that others may find boring and turn them into readable and valuable content, but Victoria does this by producing articles, case studies and even white papers and is anything but boring.

    Oh, Victoria is also a Philosophy Lecturer, as you do, with all that free time, because copywriting is easy, right?

     

    Takeaways

    - So it seems there is a bit of a difference between content and copy. Victoria explained that copy aims to sell something, whereas content provides the audience with the information they need to make a valid decision….. but is there a real difference? I’ll let you decided. As long as it has good intentions, it’s all good for me.

    - There are some tips that Victoria kindly shared with us that can be used in most writing situations. Including Marketing Assignments: - Write for a specific purpose and remember this (always have the brief, task or question in from of you) - Use headings and structure to make your writing easy to follow and a basis for the main topics you want to cover - Then , do your research – research the simple things first. Remember Google is your friend for this in most instances - Start to slot your findings under each appropriate heading - And finally, once you have done this, you can start to structure your assignment or content and make it readable. This doesn't have to be done until the other steps are complete, so don’t think you have to get it right first time or that it can’t change later on. It’s a process, not carved in stone.

    - When writing assignments or in an exam, make sure you are making it interesting and don't be afraid to get creative. We’ve heard this before but it’s worth reiterating – Remember who is reading your content and make sure it resonates with them, but in our own language, our tone, so it is undeniably yours.

     

    Top Tip – The Comms Mix and Marketing Mix Confusion

    This is a very brief, but massively important tip and its about, what so many do without noticing it and this is confusing the Extended / Digital Marketing Mix (7P’s) with a Marketing Communication Mix.

    Now they are intrinsically linked and you cant have one without the other, but in short:

    Extended / Digital Marketing Mix = 7Ps. Covering all elements such as price and people which we have been discussing on the previous eight episodes (no I haven’t gone mad, one was a round-up of the 7P’ s).

    Marketing Communications Mix = Is part of the Promotional element of the 7Ps. Think of this as the elements that your consumers actually see and are engaged by – the tip of the marketing mix iceberg – your content, communication channels and calls to action if you like.

    Don't get the two mixed up or confused. The world won’t end, but I’m not prepared to try it to...

    26 min
  • The Theory Behind Social Media with Krista Fabrick a Marketing Consultant, Speaker & Professor - Episode 71

    LinksKrista Fabrick https://www.linkedin.com/in/krista-fabrick/ https://www.instagram.com/kristafabrick/

    Books:Known - Mark Schafer: https://amzn.to/2J4TpAM

    Enjoy the Episode - Happy Marketing!www.marketingstudylab.co.uk https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersumpton/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketingstudylab/ https://twitter.com/cousinp81(@cousinp81)

    As we round up our look at the Extended Marketing Mix (7P’s), it seems fitting that this week we talk to a Marketing Consultant and Professor.

    Let’s meet Krista Fabrick. Krista teaches Marketing and Social Networking through both the theoretical side and the more practical elements, utlising the many social platforms in what she teaches. This also transfers onto startups and small businesses, who simply haven’t the time to sit down, learn, develop and implement a marketing strategy.

    Not only that, but Krista is also pursuing a Doctorate in Business Admin and Marketing with a specific view on social media. More on that later.

     

    Takeaways

    - As we heard last week with our chat with Mark Shaw, you need to understand the platforms to use them successfully. Krista takes this one step further with the premise that you need to understand the history, the principals, strategies, frameworks and foundations of each platform to early gain a competitive advantage when using them. Without this knowledge you are starting right at the bottom with a long way to go!

    - Consistency, consistency, consistency. Showing up regularly and getting into the habit of this being part of your daily life. Yes there are other comms channels we need to consider, but they are just they same. We all need consistency in what we do, which leads onto the final takeaway.

    - Learn the theory and practice this in the real world. It what good marketing is all about. Many don't want to do the theory and go straight to the practical, which can work, but in my opinion, it takes twice as long and not documenting your progress can start to make you make decisions based on intuition alone. Not a good long term strategy.

     

    Top Tip - The 7P's round up

    I just want to wrap up our look at the 7 P’s, the extended marketing mix and why it’s important that you always consider every element. They are all linked together. If you change one element it will have an effect on others. Lets take a look at an example of how this would work.

    Let's start with Price – And you increase the price of a service dramatically.

    This will have an effect on the People as your customer will expect a higher level of service for a higher price.

    Your Physical Evidence will probably have to be updated to highlight the additional quality you now include. 

    And your Promotional material will need to mirror the change in both physical evidence and pricing structure.

    That is the complexity of the Marketing Mix and why it should never be placed in the background. It should be front and center in your tactical Marketing approach.

    Music Featured on this Podcast:Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.de Creative Commons License

    25 min
  • Social Media is Just Another Channel That You Need a Strategy Around with Mark Shaw the Anti-Social Speaker - Episode 70

    LinksMark Shaw https://www.linkedin.com/in/markshaw101/

    Books:Simon Sennek: https://amzn.to/300rZDjSeth Godin: https://amzn.to/2RPR7K9 

    Enjoy the Episode - Happy Marketing!www.marketingstudylab.co.uk https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersumpton/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketingstudylab/ https://twitter.com/cousinp81(@cousinp81)

     

    This episode is all about people. People online, people on social, people in……yep, real-life, real people imagine! Not only will we look at this element of the Extended Marketing Mix, but this topic is what our next guest is all about.

    Mark Shaw is known for his out spoken posts on social media, but he is also known as the Anti-Social Speaker, why?

    After numerous, unrelated jobs, Mark became one of the UK’s leading authorities on social media and for 10 years was the ‘go to guy’ for the BBC, Sky News, journalists & businesses. Now, he is trying to expose the frailties behind what a lot of Marketers see as their only comms channel – social media. Mark is not anti-social media as he is anti-what social has become.

     

    Takeaways

    - When using social media as part of your marketing communications, although you should always remember… it is a social platform, from a business perspective you need to ask yourself – Does it drive the needle nearer to our main objective? If not you need to start questioning your motives and strategy! This isn’t to say all posts should be salesy, far from it. Be helpful, engage and be social!

    - But how do you get noticed on social platforms. Here are Marks top tips:  - Stand for something  - Be exciting in a way that resonates with your ideal clients  - Value your audiences time as much as you value your own 

    - And finally we’ll end with a great quote from Mark ‘If you want to lead the Orchestra, you need to turn your back on the audience’. That's not to say ignore your tribe, the people you want to be speaking with, no. It simply means, be you, do you, this is your niche as there is no one else like you on this planet.

     

    Top Tip - The 7 P's - People

    The final P. People. Where do people fit into the extended marketing mix? This was originally introduced as part of the extended mix for services but I feel it’s as relevant within a product-based company as it is a service.

    People form part of the service you are offering,  be it a health spa or a retail outlet. But they are much more than just ‘people’. These superstars determine the level of customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction that is created every time they come into contact with one of your or their customers.

    Think of a bad experience you’ve had and I can almost guarantee it either included someone doing something poorly or unprofessional – not to the level you expected, or they were part of the solution – either positively or negatively. That is how important ‘people’ are. 

    In order to get this element of the mix to a high standard, it all starts with hiring the right people, with the right attitude and skills so they can deal with customers professionally and most importantly of all - in line with your brand values. 

    A great way to highlight this is the service you would get in McDonalds and at the Ritz. Both may be impeccable, applaudable, but they would both be very different experiences, conforming to each companies brand values.

     

    Music Featured on this Podcast:Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.de Creative Commons License

    44 min
  • Marketing Qualification Success Using Simplicity, Brevity and Clarity with Lucille Ossai founder and editor of the Rethinking Business Communications Blog - Episode 69

    LinksLucille Ossai’s https://www.LucilleOssai.com[email protected]

    Business Communications Blog: https://www.LucilleOssai.com/blog YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM6nlSUQeKL8Arvzk7VylpA LinkedIn: http://ng.linkedin.com/in/lucilleossaiCommunicationsPro Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Lucilleossai Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/lucilleossai

    Books:Talk Like TED – Carmine Gallo: https://amzn.to/2ZHk3GW

    Extras:For extra help with editing and proofreading: https://www.Grammarly.comGrammar page of the University of Bristol: https://bit.ly/2Y1DPw8

    (Lucille’s pro tip for using this resource: I always advise students to begin with the section on 'punctuation marks', then the 'common confusions' section, then 'other pitfalls and problems', etc. They could read the information and do the grammar exercises to test their understanding. They should refer to this resource regularly). 

    Enjoy the episode - Happy Marketing! www.marketingstudylab.co.uk https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersumpton/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketingstudylab/ https://twitter.com/cousinp81(@cousinp81)

    Intro

    Lucille Ossai is a strong advocate for effective communication skills. She is passionate about helping professionals, entrepreneurs and leaders hone their communication skills so that they excel in careers and boost business results. As the founder and editor of the award-winning Rethinking Business Communications Blog, her blog is ranked among the top 30 communications blogs on the web by Feedspot. It has also been named a top business communication blog by Business First Impressions. 

    Lucille is the communication coach at the globally ranked Lagos Business School in Nigeria, where she facilitates sessions on communication in open seminars, as well as provides communications support for full-time MBA students and executive MBA participants. In her private ventures, she is a communications trainer who brings her wealth of experience in blogging, lecturing and coaching to deliver communication services for individual and corporate clients.

    Her motto: Take action today to improve your skills because you cannot wish your communication problems away. 

     

    Takeaways

    - Communication skills give you the opportunity to set yourself apart from the rest of the pack. If you are communicating better than others it means you are better understood, provide a clearer explanation and make it easy to follow your thought process. And this is the same for your Marketing Assignments, where a structured and coherent approach can pay dividends.

    - Lucille highlighted her three rules for effective communication which we can all learn from to become better communicators in anything we do. These are:

    - Consider your audience - Use simplicity, brevity and clarity (what Lucille calls the three beacons) - Timely and factual feedback

    - When communicating through writing always make sure you know and understand who your audience is and write accordingly. Again, this is the same with your Marketing Assignments. Make it easy to follow, edit and proof read while also not taking any chances with incoherent language and cryptic sentences, which brings us...

    38 min
  • Why Marketing Qualifications are so Important with Dr Geraint Evans Interim CMO Marketing Consultant - Episode 68

    Guest and Episode LinksDr Geraint Evans http://www.drgoevans.comhttps://www.instagram.com/drgeraintevans/ https://twitter.com/DrGeraintEvans_ https://www.linkedin.com/in/drgeraintevans/

    Books:The Excellence Dividend – Tom Peters: https://amzn.to/2FVG0u2

    Enjoy the Episode - Happy Marketing!www.marketingstudylab.co.uk https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersumpton/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketingstudylab/ https://twitter.com/cousinp81(@cousinp81) 

    Intro We’re continuing to look through the Marketing Mix, or 7P’s as they are more fondly know with a look at Place this week. 

    But first, let’s meet Dr Geraint Evans or G for short. G is an award-winning Interim Chief Marketing Officer, with a track record for delivering world-class commercial strategies, leveraging the full marketing mix, products, platforms and channels and has worked for the likes of Virgin Media and Odeon.

    G holds a PhD in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, a Masters in Marketing, and is a Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Marketing so what I wanted to ask is, G, give us your best doctor joke!

     

    Takeaways

    - The future is now! The future is happening now and those that cannot see this may be in big trouble later on. The technology that we may be talking about now as if it is ‘futuristic’ is already being used. Machine learning, AI, block chain and 5G to name a few are out there. And we should know about them, understand their capabilities and start to see if they are applicable to our current working environment.

    - When considering your profession, regardless of how niche it may be, it is important to make sure you have a well rounded view of Marketing. It is definitely OK to niche down, but you will inevitably need to understand the bigger picture – your customer and their journey as well as what is driving a company from a financial perspective and other none direct marketing related elements.

    - Understanding the science behind marketing is important as even the simple models we use can be complex to implement. Marketing Qualifications can help build these foundations and alongside experience and practical applications it can become a very powerful asset.

     

    Top Tip – 7 P’s – Promotion

    Probably the most utilised of the 7 P’s in any extended marketing mix (for a marketer) is Promotion.

    Why you ask?

    Because this is the part that everyone sees, the top of the Marketing Mix iceberg that is there to highlight to consumers that you have the best solutions to their problems….. this bit that everyone has an opinion about. 

    Promotion is exactly what it says it is. The promotional elements, which include:

    - Communication Channels – websites, social, print and radio for example - Content. Be it audio, visual or copy - Logos and colour used to distinguish us from the rest of the pack - The generation of interest and the tactics we will use to gain interest

    But before we even get to that we need to make sure we are building on the solid foundations of research, analysis and being complimentary to the other P’s within the Marketing Mix.

     

    Music Featured on this Podcast: Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.de Creative Commons License

    37 min
  • B2B Marketing with Michael Field the B2B Competitive Strategy Consultant from EvettField Partners - Episode 67

    Enjoy the episode - Happy Marketing! www.marketingstudylab.co.uk https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersumpton/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketingstudylab/ https://twitter.com/cousinp81(@cousinp81)

    Intro

    We all seem to be focusing on the Digital elements of not only our Marketing, but our business and social lives as well. Sometimes it’s easy to forget the real world in all of this and how Physical Evidence can play a huge part in your Marketing Mix. More on that later.

    First, it’s time to chat with Michael Field about all things B2B (business to business). It’s so easy to focus on the B2C (business to consumer) elements of Marketing as they are all around us and impact us every day, but the majority of us will ply our trade within the B2B sector and Michael is the perfect person to guide us through what we should be doing here.

    Michael, who was also a guest lecturer at Edith Cowan University for a number of years, now focuses on developing competitive strategies for medium sized businesses for EvettField Partners. Michael specializes in helping his clients gain market share, build compelling value propositions, identify value drivers and develop meaningful, evidence-based and actionable strategic plans. Now this may all sound very buzz-wordy but believe me, when Michael talks, you listen as there is theory and analysis behind what he offers, building the solid foundations of Marketing that are so badly missing in many organisations Strategy.

     

    Takeaways

    - Why is marketing important. As Michael points out, it can help companies grow and break through that plateau that other functions, such as sales cannot do alone. But it needs careful consideration backed by proper analysis. Basically, its more than just your logo, literature and a website – what are the strategic implications. 

    - This leads on nicely to not forgetting about the fundamentals of marketing. These are the bits that people can’t see, or don’t want to see. The research and analysis that is required to base any type of Marketing tactics on top of. These are the foundations of good Marketing.

    - When thinking about the various channels we now have at our disposal, it doesn't mean we should be on all of them or spread ourselves to thin. No, we go where the market is. Consumer buying behavior has driven our need for Digital Marketing, Digital Marketing didn't drive the need for customer to be on these platforms. It is down to us as Marketers to understand where our customers are and be there when they need us.

     

    Top Tip- 7 P's - Physical Evidence

    Within the extended or digital marketing mix sits physical evidence. What do we mean by this and why is it a consideration? After all, for many businesses e-commerce is the only platform and thus, physical evidence is an non-entity…. Wrong.

    Yes, physical evidence is far more prevalent within the service industry. Take a salon or a butchers for example, the smells, sound, décor, ambiance, cleanliness, colours, clothing and even equipment is vitally important as an indicator to the quality of the service that will and is provided.

    But even for those organisations with very little by way of physical evidence, it is an important factor as including the physical in what is a none physical landscape can be a game changer.

    What the heck am I talking about. Take Amazon for example, their physical evidence is exceptional irrespective of their digital presence, lets take a look at some key elements:

    Packaging – usually branded and even the tape they use to seal the packaging is either branded or utilised in some promotional way

    Warehouses – Those massive things you see on the side of the road,...

    37 min
  • The Art of Online Course Creation with Diana Wilson Freelance Video Editor - Episode 66

    Enjoy the episode - Happy Marketing! www.marketingstudylab.co.uk https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersumpton/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketingstudylab/ https://twitter.com/cousinp81(@cousinp81)

    Intro

    Where is the place to be? Why is location (physical or digital important). This will become apparent a little bit later on. Diana can basically turn your video, audio and graphics into something that people want to learn from. 

    But first we’re chatting to Diana Wilson, a freelance video editor who’s niche is within the online course creation market. Taking your audio and video and making into something people want to learn from. Not only that but Diana also helps her clients with the sales and marketing elements of their business.

    Certain circumstance (as we’ll find out later) is what drove Diana to enter this market, but in doing so it became apparent that this was not only her passion, but she was pretty darn good and what she offered.

     

    Takeaways

    - If you’re struggling to understand where you fit in life or where your passions is that you can make a living around, Diana has the perfect antidote: Write everything down, find the middle, how you can combine these elements and focus on this and solely this – your sweet spot! 

    - When creating an online course, audio, visual, content and the value you bring are all important aspects. If you know your audience, you can tailor what you are providing to what they actually want rather than what you ‘think’ they need. Two very different propositions indeed.

    - Preparation, preparation, preparation. Start with the basics and then develop from there. If you can create a roadmap for the entire development process then this will keep you on course, reduce procrastination and make you more efficient. Which is very similar to writing a Marketing Assignment. Do your prep, start off with the main points you want to get across and then develop your answer from there.

     

    Top Tip – 7 P’s - Place

    Where do you by your stuff? Online, retail store… 'round the back'?

    Regardless of where you purchase, when you are thinking of ‘Place’ within a marketing mix there are a few elements that are critical to consider when thinking of your route to market. 

    The first element is how much control do you need within the whole supply chain? If you need to keep a tight control of what your product and service looks like, the packaging, protection and the delivery as this is what make you unique then its worth considering going direct to consumer. If you are happy to relinquish control or it’s more cost effective, it may be worth handing this over to a Distributor or a Wholesale who will take this task away from you.

    Other elements that may determine your channel selection could be:

    - Geographical location. If local the  you may be able to facilitate delivery, international, is it better to hand this over to an expert that already has the infrastructure to deal with this shipping

    - Product characteristics such as fragility and the trust put in your supply chain to handle delivery with no repercussions. This is similar for high ticketed items and the security required to delivery them.

    - Don’t forget the dreaded legal issues, legislation, tax implications, trade descriptions and the crossing of international borders, as well as the variations of these within different countries.

    Make sure the places you intend to use suite both your company, the product or service you are delivering and, most importantly it matches your target markets expectations, no, exceeds your target markets expectations.

     

    Links

    Diana Wilson:

    27 min
  • Without Marketing People Don’t Know a Company Exists - with Vicki O'Neill Marketing and Sales Expert for Small Businesses - Episode 65

    Enjoy the episode - Happy Marketing! www.marketingstudylab.co.uk https://www.linkedin.com/in/petersumpton/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/marketingstudylab/ https://twitter.com/cousinp81(@cousinp81)

    This week we’re taking a look at where Price fits into the Marketing Mix (the 7P’s). But first, let’s meet Vicki O'Neill.

    Vicki is helping companies bridge that gap between marketing and sales and she has the experience needed to achieve this. Vicki also hosts the podcast ‘Connect the Dots’, tackling and talking through those important areas where sales and marketing could and should be working in harmony as this increases employee satisfaction, customer engagement and business results and who doesn't want that!

     

    Takeaways

    - Without sales, a company doesn't exist and without marketing people don't know the company exists. Just let that sink in! Now you understand why it’s so important we all just get along.

    - Aligning both sales and marketing goals has a whole host of benefits including;

    Better customer retention, better revenue, better profits and a better atmosphere internally…. And why wouldn't we all just want to get along!

    - Automation can be a great way to speed up a process or create efficiencies. But only under the right circumstances. For example AI will only ever be as good as the data that precedes it, which should be thorough and detailed…. For now! I think we’ve all seen the errors that can occur when AI doesn't have the right data, not good!

     

    Top Tip – 7 P’s - Price

    I don’t think I have to shove it down your throat the importance of Price within a Marketing Mix, but the connotations of setting this can be varied. The price will have a detrimental effect on how people view a product or service and it has the power to destroy a brands positioning as well as create its prestige.

    It’s important when setting a price that you consider if it is a right fit for, not only the product or service as well as the actual company (after all it needs to be making money), but also from the customers point of view – your target market. Set it to high and they won’t be able to afford it or see the value, to low and it may be perceived as not having enough value – i.e. it’s seen as cheap.

    In addition to this, the pricing structure is also important – will this be subscription based, a one off payment or an annual payment perhaps? 

    LinksVicki O’Neill https://www.vickioneill.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vickioneill/

    Books:Marketing Rebellion – Mark Schafer: https://amzn.to/2WdxNeW

    App:Canva: https://www.canva.com

    Music Featured on this Podcast: Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.de Creative Commons License

    28 min

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