Marketing Study Lab - Actionable Marketing Knowledge

Cambridge Social Media Day (7th& 8th Nov): www.cambridgesocial.media/csm-day-2019/

Guest and Episode LinksLenka Koppová https://www.lenkakoppova.com/blog

@lenkakopp: https://twitter.com/lenkakopp@lenkakopp: https://www.instagram.com/lenkakopp/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/lenkakoppova/ https://www.facebook.com/lenkakoppova90 

Books:Rise of the Youpreneur – Chris Ducker: https://amzn.to/2Zuqtg9

Other Links:Paralleldots.com: https://www.paralleldots.com/sentiment-analysis

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

Sentiment analysis. No not the stuff the ends up at the bottom of a river (science facts). Sentiment analysis is a way to analyse social chatter about your brand. And we have a great link where you can try it out for yourself. But more of that later. 

Straight onto our guest this week - who is a freelance social media consultant based in Cambridge, UK, this part is important as Lenka Koppová, helps small, local businesses leverage the power of social media and I’m fascinated to understand how this all works, when we are all strapped for time, let alone running a small business as well as trying to drum up that all important social brand presence. Not only that, why is it so important for small (probably well known in the local area) businesses to have a social presence?

Lenka is the perfect person to provide this insight for us.

Not only does Lenka run local businesses social media, but she also runs a Social Media Conference, yep you guessed it, locally, in Cambridge. This year it’s being help on the 7th and 8th November so there is still time to get your tickets (link as ever, is in the show notes).

Takeaways

- Why should small businesses use social media in there Marketing? Lenka believes this can help to build relationships online as well as offline. Think about it, even though you might be local to a butcher, a baker or a… I’ll leave it there, the chances are you will consume some content online – opening hours, special offers etc, which helps build a reputation locally and this can be done on social.

- Time strapped businesses should also find the time to do this, but with efficiency. Have a plan, understand what you want to achieve and most important of all don’t procrastinate or fall down that rabbit hole – There is a HUGE difference between being on social and utilising it for business.

- And finally, Lenka doesn't have a formal qualification. As she pointed out, there are so many different ways to learn. And this goes for any type of Marketing Qualification or job role. Reading blogs, listening to podcasts, YouTube, conferences, online training, the list goes on. Try using these for your own research and start to expand your own knowledge around a topic you’re passionate about.

Top Tip – Sentiment Analysis 

We're going to do a few things here. Firstly explain what sentiment analysis is, secondly what this actually means and finally why we may have to be careful with the results!

So firstly, what is sentiment analysis. Put simply it is a from of text analysis that allow...

Buy the BookDitch the Act: https://amzn.to/2MvqmIAOr to find out more: https://ditchtheact.com/

Ryan Foland:Use ryan.online or go to https://www.ryanfoland.comCheck out someone going through the 3-1-3 challenge: https://www.ryanfoland.com/dna/

Book:The 4-Hour Work Week – Tim Ferriss: https://amzn.to/2MbgrsR

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)

Guest Intro

Ditching the act can be harder than it sounds, which is why in the new book ‘Ditch the Act’ Ryan Foland and Leonard Kim show us how to be true to ourselves, love our faults and even use these to succeed in life – to live a more fruitful and enjoyable life. And who doesn’t want that.

And this bonus episode we speak to the co-author Ryan Foland all about the book itself!

In a previous episode of Marketing Study Lab I had the pleasure of chatting to Leonard Kim (episode 61 for those of you that are interested – https://bit.ly/2Wnwz0d), who co-authored the book with Ryan. But as they release the book to the general public, I doubled up and spoke to Ryan, specifically about this book and why he’s looking a little red faced at the moment.

Ryan is a keynote speaker who has done no less than four TEDx talks, a personal branding expert and the creator of the 3-1-3 method (which we’ll come onto later), which you should defo check out after this episode.

Takeaways

- People want to do business with people. Think of those products or services you can’t wait to buy. Unless you have a shed load of money behind a brand, the chances are you will be purchasing because you know, like and trust the person behind the company. What they stand for, aligned to you as a person – that creates a much more powerful bond than any company brand could.

- The 3-1-3 method is so simple, yet so complex to perfect. Try it for yourself – try and write down what the problem is you solve, the solution for this problem and who it is for. Sounds simple – try writing it and then check out the video in the show notes. I almost guarantee your answer won’t be as bloody as it needs to be!

- It's all about the problem you solve. No one really cares about your job, what you do. Unless you’re a spaceman or an old school pirate… then it might work. But in general, your job title is boring. And this book ‘Ditch the Act’ shows you how to bring the best out of you, for being you, of which solving problems is just one element of it!

Go out, get it and start to ditch your act!

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

Guest and Episode LinksRuthie Bowles https://defythestatusquo.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ruthie-bowles/

[email protected]

ebook: The Business Owner's Guide to Content Marketing: https://defythestatusquo.com/resources/ @annaruthus: https://twitter.com/annaruthus @defythestatusquobiz: https://www.instagram.com/defythestatusquobiz/

Books:Start with Why – Simon Sinek: https://amzn.to/2zBDYM5

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

Setting objectives and KPIs is something we’re going to get into later on. Why are they important and what is the difference? We also cover this topic with our guest, Ruthie Bowles. 

Ruthie is a B2B Content Consultant - Owner of Defy the Status Quo who provides content marketing strategy and creation for B2B companies that want ‘better than your bog standard’, above average, mediocre content. As Ruthie describes in our chat, it’s all about the authenticity and moving these online connections to ones that are valuable and above all else… human!

Takeaways

- Good is simply not good enough anymore. In the digital world there is a lot of mediocre content. To stand out you need to be better than this. Ruthie takes this to the extreme with everything that she does – from client communications to ideas and the end results. It’s a message we should all be listening to. 

- Authenticity comes from – consistency, being interesting and honest and most importantly, not holding back and being true to your brand energy. Don’t choose short-term gain for long term losses

- And finally, don’t operate in silos. And this goes for content creation as well. Utilise what is around you and within other departments. This will not only improve your content but also internal communications and relationships.

Top Tip – Setting objectives and KPIs

Just time for a quick ‘spot the difference’. The difference between objectives and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).

So this is as simple as I can put it and because I love an analogy, I’m going to use a car journey here.

Your objectives should be what you are focused on achieving. You main goal, an end result, why you are doing what you are doing. In terms of a car journey, this would be you end destination – the postcode you’ve punched into your sat nav.

KPI’s, are similar to objectives, but these are the smaller markers you can set to make sure you achieve your overall objectives. In the case of the car journey, this could be – fuel efficiency or reaching the half waypoint by a certain time. Elements that are not specifically your overall goal or what you aim to do, but will keep you on track to achieve this.

In summary, objectives should be your bigger picture stuff where you are looking to achieve greatness, whereas the KPIs are smaller, incremental markers that, if hitting them, will build, to achieve your main objective.

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

Guest and Episode Links

Emma-Louise Munro Wilson https://www.linkedin.com/in/elmw17/ https://emari.co.uk/[email protected]

The EMARI Code: https://emari.co.uk/the-emari-code/

Anatomy of Trust – Brene Brown: https://brenebrown.com/videos/anatomy-trust-video/

Books:Tribe of Mentors – Tim Ferriss: https://amzn.to/2PjML04(Zappos) Delivering Happiness – Tony Hsieh:https://amzn.to/2ZlvYyhRadical Candor – Kim Scott: https://amzn.to/2L1YtrRSacred Causes – Michael Burleigh : https://amzn.to/2ZqE5K0

App:ViVino: https://www.vivino.com/app

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

One of the old classics SWOT is widely known and used across a lot of disciplines. But do you know about TOWS? This is the part that adds value to any SWOT and we’ll be discussing this later.

But first, let’s meet Emma-Louise Munro Wilson, Content Strategist, Revenue Growth Consultant and CEO for EMARI Group. Emma is all about generating new sales, shortening sales cycles and making repeat sales easier and who doesn’t want that. With a focus on turning existing customers and employees into engaged brand ambassadors, again, who doesn’t want that.

Just one career highlight is reducing marketing spend for a client by 90% yet seeing a 43% increase after just 6 months!

Takeaways

- Marketing isn’t just important, it is the business! If you don’t have sales, you don’t have a business and Marketing drives and facilitates this. It is integral to what we do and how.

- Always, always, always, be listening to your customers. And appreciate the feedback, but ask and act upon it. As Emma pointed out, if you get a 3 star rating, there is room for improvement, ask why only 3? It could be a simple issue, such as not having a website, social proof, transparency or a missed call. All of which are easily fixed. But it could be there is some fundamental flaw with your business plan that needs to be fixed. Always be asking!

- And finally, here are Emma’s top 5, no 6 tips for creating better content: 1 – Don’t be afraid to borrow ideas (but make sure you give credit for them)! 2 – Make your content purposeful 3 – Be interested, then interesting 4 – No one cares about your business as much as you do 5 – Follow-up with specific and interesting content 6 – And this is hot off the EMARI press – Create content worth bingeing on

Top Tip – The SWOT and TOWS

We all know what a SWOT is – looking at the internal strength and weaknesses of an organisation as well as looking at the opportunities and threats of the external environment. But how do we make any sense out of this and gather valuable, actionable insight? TOWS!

TOWS (Weirich)

The TOWS model sits inside the SWOT analysis and it brings together each component. Basically what this allows you to do is focus on one opportunity, threat, strength or weakness against another to create the best strategic response to what is actually occurring. Let’s break that down:

Strength/Opportunity (SO)

Utilising a strength to exploit an opportunity is probably the...

Guest and Episode LinksLubna Forzley https://www.linkedin.com/in/lubnaforzley/ http://www.stories-co.nethttp://www.lubnaforzley.com

TEDx Talk: https://youtu.be/2QO8sV7AiUY

Books:Start with Why – Simon Sinek: https://amzn.to/327HV7t

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

Porters 5 Forces is a classic Marketing tool for analyzing the competitive environment, which we’ll discuss later. 

But first, let’s have a chat with Lubna Forzley - a TEDx speaker (link is in the show notes) who runs Stories, a boutique story-transformation consultancy, which helps leaders create stories worth sharing. On Lubna’s LinkedIn profile, she calls herself a ‘Corporate Supernanny’ and rightly so, as Lubna helps craft strategies that can be implemented, not ones that will end up going nowhere, which so often happens.

But this isn’t all based on intuition as the strategies built on data. Think of it like giving you data soul. But what makes Lubna even more impressive is her back story, as you’ll find out a little bit later on.

Takeaways

- Lubna shared two tips to becoming more creative, that can be implemented in any situation:

- Be fearless - Connect with your audience

If you can do these two things, creativity should be much easier and more effective

- When discussing data, Lubna is in no doubt that you should be using it to create stories of value. Think about personalisation and tailoring communications towards an individual rather than a set of customers. Yes this takes some time and planning, but it is possible to generate those one-to-one communications that create huge impact 

- And finally, in situations where you feel overwhelmed or get ‘the fear’, just think – what’s the worst that could happen? As Lubna described, she grew up with bombs landing at her feet! Now put that into context with sitting an exam, starting a new job or doing something you are concerned about….. be fearless!

Top Tip – Porters 5 Forces (Porter, 1979)

So what are Porters 5 Forces and why is this model so important?

As you many expect, the model itself focuses on the 5 forces Michael Porter deemed crucial to focus upon within a company’s competitive environment, within a market sector and also outside of this sector. 

Although created back in 1979 and they still hold true. So let’s take a quick look at each one:

Competitive RivalryWhat is the rivalry like within your market? Is it fierce or do you own a niche in the marketplace? Are there few or many competitors? The answers to these questions will make a huge difference to your marketing strategy.

Supplier PowerHow much control do suppliers have? If raw materials are in short supply you may find they hold all the cards, but a good relationship with a supplier, or utilising various suppliers may help reduce the risks of this becoming an issue.

Buyer PowerDo your buyers hold all the cards? If you are dealing with a small set then possibly, yes. Switching costs become important here, the harder it is to switch, the less likely it is to happen.

Threat of SubstitutionAre there different ways of solving the customers problem that aren’t exactly what you offer? If these substitutes offer a better solution then they need to be considered as a threat. Within...

Guest and Episode LinksRichard Forshaw-Smith https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardforshaw/ https://rfsmarketing.co.uk/https://www.facebook.com/rfsmarketing @rfs_marcomms: https://www.instagram.com/rfs_marcomms/ @rfsmarcomms: https://twitter.com/rfsmarcomms 

Books:Blue Ocean Strategy – W. Chan Kim: https://amzn.to/2KZSAdH

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

Marketing Strategy can be easily missed or forgotten about in the melee of tactical activities, but Porters Generic Strategies can help with this, which we will find out about later.

First, let’s meet Richard Forshaw-Smith, a sales, Marketing and Communication Specialist from RFS Marketing & Communications. Richard has held a number of senior positions within and working for businesses in the public sector. So he is in the perfect position to talk us through the nuances of this industry and how the heck we should be Marketing within and to this industry. 

Takeaways

- Richard points out that the challenges are generally the same whether you are marketing within the public or private sector, with the main difference being the application of the chosen tactics. Massively important this – the application of the tactics as this can make a huge differential advantage. 

- When discussing spend and budgets, Richard highlighted that justification will always be required, it’s a no-brainer really. The more important element to focus on is setting objectives that have an impact for the public, as this in turn will affect how much you have or need to spend. For example – Promoting health benefits, if done correctly, will reduce the need for hospital care over the long term and thus, cut the cost of operations – Marketing in action – boom! 

- And finally, if you are looking to get into Marketing within the public sector, just go for it. We hear that a lot on this podcast, just go for it! Try lots of things and make sure the environment, culture and surroundings are a good fit for you. Exposing yourself to different challenges will also provide experience that can help later on in life.

Top Tip - Porters Generic Strategies (Porter, 1980)

To what is this model and why should we be considering it to help shape the strategic direction of an organisation.

To break this model down for you, Porter suggests four business strategies that can be adopted depending on a number of variables such as; what type of oragnisation it is, its marketplace and its competition. 

What it really highlights is whether a business should look to go niche and narrow or take a broader stance. So let’s review each element individually:

Cost Leadership

With this strategy, the objective is to become the lowest-cost producer in the industry, by traditionally producing on mass to achieve economies of scale. 

One word – Primark, ok here are a few moreor a large supermarket chain

Cost Focus

Here a business seeks a lower-cost advantage in just one or a small number of market segments, a niche if you like

Pepsi and many soft drink companies use this to their advantage.

Differentiation Focus

This is similar to cost focus although a business will look to differentiate itself within a...

Guest and Episode Links

Jay Mullings https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaymullings/ @writtenmirror: https://www.instagram.com/writtenmirror/ @writtenmirror: https://twitter.com/WrittenMirror Written Mirror: https://www.youtube.com/writtenmirror

Books: The Art of War – Sun Tzu : https://amzn.to/2PidA4B

App: Strong Lifts 5x5 Workout Planner: https://stronglifts.com/apps/

 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

So this episode has been recorded in a slightly different way, mixing things up a little, so a big thank you to our guest this week, Jay Mullings, for editing the actual interview part of this episode. 

And with that in mind, let’s meet Jay, a content producer on YouTube, just search for Written Mirror and you’ll find him. This title doesn’t do him justice however, as Jay covers a whole host of creative development from copywriting to screenwriting, manuscript editing, photography, film/TV directing, audio/video editing, colour correction & grading and of course, publishing. 

Jay also has a host of awards to his name from Screen Play writing awards to International film Festival Accolades – way too many to mention here. So who better to take about all things creative and the creative process?

Takeaways

- Jay’s ethos is to go out and get it done regardless, to the best of his ability and thrive off this, which is amazing. So who are you doing what you’re doing for? Having a focal point, even if it’s for yourself can be a powerful thing to have in your locker.

- When creating content be open to creativity and the story you are telling, but let’s bring this down to writing, especially within Marketing Assignments. Jay mentioned that you need to be thinking about the person that will read what you have written and this couldn’t be more prevalent than in Marketing.

- And finally, to keep that writers block away, mix up your content, both what you are consuming (by way of research) and also how you tackle creating that content – check out www.youtube/writtenmirrorfor more advice on this (the link is also in the show notes) 

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

Guest and Episode LinksPatrick Ward https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrickjamesward/ https://highspeedexperts.com/

Books:The 4-Hour Work Week – Tim Ferriss: https://amzn.to/31SO9rZ

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

What type of company do you work for and what does this actually mean? Not what you may think, but more about that later.

Let’s meet Patrick Ward, currently the Editor-in-Chief at High Speed Experts, a broadband connectivity search engine and IT industry education platform. Patrick is a writer by trade and has worked extensively across the insurance, real estate, finance, travel, and tech industries, with notable clients including Allianz and Cathay Pacific and is currently a member of the Forbes Communication Council.

The main reason I invited Patrick on today is because of his rise through the ranks within the Marketing Profession, to provide you with an insight into the how, what and why of a career in Marketing. 

Takeaways

- When starting or in the middle of your career you need a path. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but what do you want the next 10 years to be like and do you have a plan to achieve this. It’s like most things – failing to plan, is planning to fail!

- When considering career progression, Patrick pointed out that there are three things that will help you, always – people, communication and interaction, which kinda makes sense as these are the three things that are essential when implementing a Marketing Strategy

- And finally, Partick reminded us that learning on the job is so important, but…. Don’t forget that your Marketing qualification will form the bedrock of this learning, which you then can apply to your daily duties. This will not only assist you in becoming a better marketer, but also help you find out what type of Marketer you want to become.

Top Tip - Which company are you?

It’s important as a marketer that we understand what type of company we are marketing. At its core it can be a number of different types. Here’s a rundown of these types and what this may mean:

Selling Orientation: This focusses on the actual selling of what exists rather than satisfying customer needs and wants. Usually comms are focused around short term promotions, rather than long term stability.

Production Orientation: This process looks to maximise output and thus profit, which is all about economies of scale. Quicker, faster, cheaper. An internal approach.

Product Orientation:Whereas production concentrates on economies of scale, the focus here is on the product / service itself, designed to what is ‘thought’ to be the best solution. This however may ignore actual customer tastes and needs and you may end up focusing your efforts on features and benefits that are not important.

Marketing Orientation:  As you would expect, customers requirements are embedded into all activities. Customers are at the core of everything that is done. The trick here is to understand your market. If this isn’t correct, the orientation may fail as the strategy will be incorrect.

There is one more type I want to cover here and that is Societal Marketing, which means a company is looking to balance the needs of its customer, society and the company itself which means a more ethical stance on your strategic approach. 

Guest and Episode LinksMonique Russell https://www.linkedin.com/in/clearcommunicationcoach/ https://clearcommunicationsolutions.com/

Books:The Success Principles – Jack Canfield: https://amzn.to/2TWKIgV

 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

How credible are you? How important is credibility for your business. We’ll find out later when we take a look at Credibility, the four and final C of Marketing Communication.

But first, let’s meet Monique Russell an Executive Communications Coach. Sounds very prestigious doesn’t it. Well, what Monique does is help corporate professionals improve their communication skills and to date has taught over 2,000 people globally. Monique has also helped inspire parents who were stuck on how to motivate their children, which she is tremendously proud of and rightly so.

But I want to get into the type of communication skill you, the listener need right now, in business and in education, especially if you are new to a business and want to make that great first impression or just simply communicate with your colleagues more effectively. 

Takeaways

- Here are Monique’s tips for what to do when starting a new role and it’s quite extensive:

- Ask questions, pay attention to what is around you, share strengths and experiences, keep on learning and understand the work culture – is it for you? Do you fit in?

Did I miss anything?

- You need intention and action to be noticed. Take ownership of building social relationships. Make the effort and try talking face to face rather than remotely, it can make a huge difference 

- And finally, the dreaded M word. Meetings. Monique gave us a few short, handy piece of advice to keep these on-track and worthwhile: - Always have an agenda - Set a timeframe - Give the meeting a purpose and have an outcome - Provide a short recap for those ongoing meetings or for any newbys that may be joining you

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

Have you even gone to purchase something from somewhere not credible? Seen some comms, thought it looked dodgy and bought it anyway… actually don’t answer that. Whatever you get up to in your own time is your own business, it’s not for here.

But if you haven’t, there is a reason for that and that’s because communications need to be credible to stand any chance of long term success. Yes, you can fool some people, but not for very long and not with any type of long term commitment from them.

But how do we do this. To gain credibility you need to become credible within the mind of the customer. This can be effected by a whole host of elements – the words you use, the font type, colours, images, sounds, smells and even the people that endorse your products or services… the influencers.

With all this in mind, the one thing you need to keep front and centre when making your communications credible, are your customers – what will resonate with them, what do they find credible? Answer these questions and you’ve hit the credibility mother-load… all you have to do now is be credible in your actions before, during and after purchase.

Out of all the C’s of communication, this one, credibility, for me, is the one that will provide long-term success, an affiliation with your customer, turning them into advocates and it is just damn ethical to be

Guest and Episode Links

Ella Orr https://www.linkedin.com/in/ella-orr-socialmediaconsultant/ https://www.facebook.com/ella.orr @muchmoresocial - https://twitter.com/muchmoresocial @muchmoresocial - https://www.instagram.com/muchmoresocial/

Books:Rise of the Youpreneur – Chris Ducker: https://amzn.to/2Zuqtg9 

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

How competitive are you? And how important is this in a business sense? Well it is one of the core components of the 4C’s of Marketing Communication, so we’ll find out later.

First, let’s meet our guest, Ella Orr, who is now a freelance Social Media Manager after previously spending a career within teaching. So site down, shut up and listen!

Ella started with knowing, literally nothing about social and now creates bespoke social media strategies and delivers training on all the platforms you’d expect - to small businesses, local organisations and charities. What a journey! 

Takeaways

- Like Ella, whatever you are wanting to do… just start. You will be amazed how far you can get in next to no time. So if it is your studies, a marketing plan or learning a new skill, just freaking start!

- Here are Ella’s top 5 tips for small businesses when starting out on a social journey:

1 – Learn from the best – Buffer, Hootsuite, etc. They know what they are doing and there is loads of free ‘stuff’ to help you start 2 – Training – Get to it! Learn and implement 3 – Have a strategic approach. Like everything you do, you need to know why, for who and what. It’s the same here 4 – Focus on one platform at a time 5 – Test, measure and review - simple

- And finally, keep an open mind, don’t dismiss anything until you’ve tried it a least once.

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

Competitiveness, some have more than others, but for a business, it is hugely important when it comes to communication.

When we discuss competitiveness, what we mean is our competitive advantage against our competition, what gives you that edge? And whatever this is, it should be consistent throughout all your communications. 

This doesn’t mean you have to be aggressive in your approach, far from it, you just have to be different enough to stand out. This could be using the quality of product or service, pricing structure or model or even utilising differentiation and challenging the mould – Think how Uber, Apple or McDonalds uses their communications to highlight why they are different.

Music Featured on this Podcast:

Sleepy in the Garden Lobo Loco www.musikbrause.deCreative Commons License