Handy free tool to get you started with a marketing plan

Cruising the web sometimes uncovers some handy tools. I've just come across The Small Business Mentoring Service's Marketing Plan guide. It isn't just a "fill the blanks" but gives you some guidance as to what should be included in a marketing plan.

Whilst preparing a full marketing plan isn't everyone's cup of tea, it can be a worthwhile exercise for anyone with a great idea, but little idea of how to move forward with it. If you come from a marketing background you may not need the help, but if you don't, you've probably identified marketing as a critical success area - since it's the area that will ensure you get some $$ coming in the door.

Preparing a marketing plan could even be more important than a business plan, which tend to be written without enough practical detail.

Download the Marketing Plan guide here>

How could certain charities have profited from Steve Job's death?

I was one of millions who was saddened when I learned of Steve Job's. Not only do I dearly love my Macbook & ipad & iphone; but as an entrepreneur I LOVE that he was kicked out of the company he started, only to come back and save it years later: taking it to SERIOUS success and a case of 'told you so'. Love it.

In the coverage of his demise, commentators did say that they expected awareness of pancreatic cancer to rise. In fact, the day of his death, Triple J featured an interview with a cancer researcher in their coverage of Steve's death.

So I was fascinated to read this post from Hitwise about search traffic on pancreatic cancer - and what they identified as a failed marketing effort from cancer charities.

"Cancer Information received 77% of its traffic from paid links in the week preceding Steve Jobs death, whereas in the week ending 8 October 55% of clicks came from a paid link. This might well be as a result of the increased natural traffic coming through because of the rise in overall searches, but if search volumes were increasing, Macmillan could have increased its PPC spend proportionally in order to maintain its market share of visits. However, the drop in market share indicates that this was a missed opportunity for the cancer charities, who could have increased their PPC spend on key pancreatic cancer search terms to ensure they were grabbing searchers at this peak time of interest."

Whilst rather macabre, their point is valid. Essentially is that in a "connected" online world, it's time to colour outside the lines, hell, we are all living totally outside the lines.

There are real opportunities in being in touch with what your market / community is discussing and capitalising on this in your online marketing. Any big event, anything people are talking about, is a momentary chance to capture their attention.

So the zero budget marketing tip for today is to think creatively about HOW you can use big events to generate traffic and sales for your business's website.

For example:

Massive storms predicted in the new - opportunity for roofers & plumbers (prepare or repair), video rental (stay safe inside), insurance (are you covered), etc.

PS. It could be that there's opportunities in "small events" too. This post from lujure talks about a "weird trick" to generate traffic and sales from what people are talking about on Facebook. The author uses the example of dropping a phone into water being a good search term for a phone sales company. Follow the steps, it does actually work!

Do you have a call to action ON EVERY WEB PAGE?

What do you want a website visitor to do at the end of each page they read?

You will want them to read another page, sign up to an email newsletter, contact you, like you on facebook or even buy from you!

But do you ask them to DO this?

If your website isn't brand new, you probably haven't looked at it critically in a long time. Not only will there be out of date information, there will likely be a better way to say much of what you've written and you'll find a call to action is probably missing from most pages.

You might argue that you've got buttons or links people can use to "buy now". But why make it hard for your visitors? Why not take them on a journey; tell them where to go next from each page and what they should do. You might keep them engaged just that little bit longer, which gives you just enough time to 'convert' them.

You need a call to action in ALL of your marketing communications (just like the fabulous zero budget marketing sign in the picture) and your website is no different. Each and every page of your website is a piece of marketing communication. Make sure you ASK people to do something on all pages, not just the promotional articles.

So put your marketing web audit in your diary now. Not exciting, not glamorous - but it will be effective.

Lessons & insight from copywriting legends

I came across a treasure recently at a fave spot - the Avenue Bookstore in Albert Park. It's called "The Copy Book. How some of the best advertising writers in the world write their advertising."

Whilst there's little room for "traditional" advertising in a blog about zero budget marketing the insights of good copy writing translate to other mediums.

Around 50 legends share some of their insight on writing, and some of their best ads. (Even if you're not interested in the craft of copywriting, it's a great book.) I thought I'd share some of the gems from these admen, who've all had 30+ years in the game. These are edited extracts, their actual inclusions are much longer.

Oh, and if you only take away one thing, David Abbott's point 5 is the one to adhere to.

David Abbott

I've never been much of a theoriser about copywriting, but here are five things that I think are more of less true:

1. Put yourself in your work. Use your life to animate your copy. If something moves you, chances are, it will touch someone else, too.

2. Think visually. Ask someone to describe a spiral staircase and they'll use their hands as well as words. Sometimes the best copy is no copy.

3. If you believe that facts persuade (as I do), you'd better learn how to write a list so that it doesn't read like a list.

4. Confession is good for the soul and for copy, too. Bill Bernbach used to say "a small admission gains a large acceptance". I still think he was right.

5. Don't be boring.

Tony Brignull

My own copy improved when it occurred to me that we relate to a company as we do a person. Unless we're investors, we don't ask how many employees a company has, what its financial fearing is, where it exports. We as; is it honest, reliable, modest, amusing, trustworthuy. If ti is, that company may eventually become our friend. I have come to think that helping companies turn into friends is the greatest thing we advertising people can do for our clients.

Sean Doyle

- Don't think, just do, and thoughts will definitely happen along the way.
- Always be collecting
- Wake up early
- Beware of the committee
- Less isn't always more
- Pick a side
- Avoid brainstorms (if you want to)

Paul Fishlock
- We are not in the entertainment business, we're in the influence business
- Copywriting is more science than you may think
- Creative prizes are false God
- We influence some of the least important decisions in people's lives
- Beware (becoming) management

Steve Harrison
It was probably my grounding in direct mail that taught me my obligations to the reader, I was usually entering their homes uninvited and because of that I always felt that my first responsibility was to them - and not the client. I wasn't there to foist a product or service on the prospect. I twas my job to show how the think I was writing about could solve the reader's problems.

How to use product photography to sell online

If you're a small business selling products online, you can't underestimate the importance of product photography.

But businesses do underestimate this - all the time. Seriously, with some sites you're lucky to get a single, badly lit shot! (Sometimes this is a cost consideration - marketplaces like eBay usually limit you to 1 photo unless you pay more. But most of the time, it's just poor execution.)

Even if you have a low or zero marketing budget, there really is no excuse! You can get a cheap camera for a hundred or so dollars and do a better job than most online stores do. You could even use an iphone and use one of the hundred or so photography apps out there that can improve even the worst photos.

Depending on your product, photography can also often be sourced from the suppliers, so there's little excuse to not provide...well, MORE.

You see, the secret isn't really GREAT photography (although that helps). It's having A LOT OF PHOTOGRAPHY. When people can't touch and feel, try to give them the next best thing. Pictures, pictures and more pictures.

I've included this listing from fab Melbourne online stationery store Notemaker. This is a fantastic example of how to use product photography well. Why?

-It gives you lots of angles & perspectives.

-It shows you inside and out.

-It shows it to you in someone's hand (valuable for PERSPECTIVE, which can be hard to judge online, even if measurements are provided).

- The COLOUR in the shots is consistent between shots. Consistent, and natural lighting if possible, is the way to get this.

Now what can be really worthwhile is including video (Asos does this with many of their clothing items). But that's a bigger ask than photography, so I won't get off topic.

So, consider what you're selling online. We talk a lot about words, and design, but consider if there are enough pictures to really SELL it. If not, head off an get cracking!

Post by Kimberly Palmer at Brazen Productions - smart marketing, words & events

What makes an effective Facebook advertisement?

Have you ever been engaged - and then visited Facebook? After changing my FB status last year to engaged, the advertising I was served was ALL related to weddings. Or losing weight. Or wedding dresses. Or wedding accessories. Had I been seriously in need of suppliers, it would have been pretty helpful actually...which I did notice when wearing my "marketing" hat.

(That said, I really enjoyed being able to change the status to married as I looked at a lot of those ads way too many times. Hint: don't run the same ad for months at a time!).

I've yet to have the occasion to run a Facebook advertising campaign for a client, but I'm watching and waiting for the right chance. Why? They currently seem to be an inexpensive - and less cluttered - way to conduct CPC (cost per click) advertising than Google IF you have a product or service that matches the environment.

Why do I make this distinction?

People are searching on Google for information. A huge variety of information. That's not the case with Facebook. People are on Facebook to catch up with friends and family (or at least find our what they're doing without even having to speak to them!).

So the Facebook audience are less likely to look at advertising and less likely to respond to certain types of advertising. Yet there's also less ads on facebook that you'd expect to find. Even if you voluntarily click on "see all" next to "sponsored", there were only about 20 ads where I "fit" the profile set up by advertisers. These are things like age, gender, education level and where you live.

So if it's a less cluttered space, and if you have something that you feel will appeal, it's a cheap marketing test. So if you do have the right product or service, the next thing to consider is what makes an effective Facebook advert. (For the sake of this article, effective just means what I think works, as I'm not privvy to the success of these ads).

These three adverts I've grabbed at random because I think two work well, one is uninspired, but there's something to learn from all of them.

Advert 1 - The "hook" in this advert is the competition side of it. LOTS of people like to win tickets, so it's a great way to get traffic. The cute little image stands out too. What is less apparent is what's being advertised - North Coast Holiday Parks. I'm assuming this is a flash way of saying "caravan parks". When you click on this, you go to their page. The lost opportunity with this great little advert is that you can "enter" without "liking" the page. The opportunity to win should have been traded for a like. And they should have brought you to a special landing page in Facebook, rather than the generic wall. This isn't as exxy as you might imagine - you can build one for free at places like Lujure. Why do you want a Like? Then you're actually likely to be able to market - and potentially SELL - in the future.

Advert 2 - The issue with this advert - there's NO real hook. It's just shouting at me about vague deals. This could have been great for a "sponsored stories" type of advertisement (in Facebook you can run "facebook ads" or "sponsored stories"). You could run a POLL on your page as a "post" and have this show as the advertisement. The poll could be something like "What place would you most like to travel to.." as the website that's being advertised seems to be a generic online travel site, not one about Malaysia specifically. So much more can be done with a fun product like travel to sell...

Advert 3 - This ad has such great copy because it draws you in, telling you a story. LOVE that about it. It's going to hit a pretty small market though - those considering University and possibly already pondering studying to be a pharmacist. As such, I'd question the marketer's decision to include someone like me in the demographic - that is, almost 40 and already having a University degree. So big ticks for the copy, less so for the targeting, as it means you may be paying more in the CPC auction that necessary (as the wider the market, potentially the greater the CPC bidding competition).

In summary - Facebook advertising can be a pretty good zero budget small business marketing tool, but just because it's "cheap", doesn't mean you shouldn't think carefully about how to use it. By that, I'm talking ROI (return on investment) - and how to ultimately get a LIKE ... and then a SALE!

Why a little gift is a smart low budget business marketing tactic

We all love a surprise gift - no matter who it's from.

And just because you're a business person, or a business customer, doesn't mean you've suddenly become a robot. PEOPLE make purchasing decisions, even in B2B.

I wanted to share this fantastic initiative by MailChimp, who I've just signed up to use for a client because of their snazzy RSS-to-Email service (more about that in another post...I think it's going to be GOLD for those who never seem to find time to send newsletters).

My first campaign was just automatically broadcast and this little email arrived in my inbox. Not only did it say my campaign had been sent - but there's mention of a gift.

So, not one to look any gift horse in the mouth, I clicked on "Gimme My Gift".

Turns out I got to pick my size of a Mail Chimp T-Shirt, and there's one coming over the pond to me! Yes, a free t-shirt. In the mail. Something physical and tangible from this most intangible of services.

I doubt my reaction of delighted surprise is unique. Yes, I know it's just a promo t-shirt, that I will maybe only wear to bed. But that's not the point.

Not only have I had a great business experience - the email went where it was supposed to, etc - but my purchasing decision has been re-enforced again. Instead of my next interaction being a bill, it's a gift. GREAT experience.

And whilst this is hardly zero budget - the tshirt and postage may run $10-$15 - as my MONTHLY spend with them will be at least $50, this is a tiny cost. A $15 gift for $600 of business annually. That's only 2.5% of my annual spend. Starting to see the marketing magic?

This program is automated, but feels personal. It's re-inforcing the brand. It's making me feel smart for buying. And it's remembering that KEEPING customers is as important - if not more important - than acquiring them.

What can your small business marketing program take from this? What little surprise can you give to a customer to improve their day - and help solidify your business relationship?