In marketing, we tend to get to Christmas before it's really begun. The lead up from September is crazy and we are celebrating the New Year by early November. We have catalogues planned, TV booked, press ads made, radio recorded and are just adding the tinsel at the end. As we are busy planning things … Continue reading In my opinion: What I learnt about marketing at Christmas, as a marketer and a mum

When it comes to marketing, one of the most common mistakes that people make is not being clear on exclusions, or terms and conditions, related to services or offers that they have incorporated as part of their offering. This isn't just frustrating for customers, but also for the businesses when customers start calling and asking … Continue reading Did I forget to mention…..

Marketing channels and media selection has been evolving for a long time but, like everything, all campaigns start with an idea, an objective and a little bit of hope. Test and learn is something that many large companies rely on to try different marketing strategies, before launching it on their entire customer base. The goal … Continue reading Start with a little test…the results might surprise you!

One of the greatest challenges when developing a marketing plan is understanding where to find, reach and engage with your customer. In today's society, people are time poor, including you, me and of course, our customers, so needing to reach them at a time and place that is suitable to them as well as one … Continue reading Customer, customer, wherefore art thou customer?

Buying the right media is critical to the success of any business and ensuring that you get the right deal is essential. One of the biggest challenges that I've seen with small business is the constant "have I got a deal for you" from media reps. Media reps are employed by media companies to sell … Continue reading Managing Media Sales Reps

Many start up organisations are now using social media channels as a way to develop their brand and initial customer base. It's a really great concept due to the low set up costs as well as the ability to capture a large audience, locally, nationally and globally. But, have you taken the time to consider … Continue reading Social media: the new customer hotline

As with all elements of business, it's important that you start with putting together a plan. Your marketing plan is essential to understanding when, why and how you are going to promote your business and reach out to your customers. All good business plans should cover aspects of your marketing plan   Where the story … Continue reading In the beginning, there was a plan.

One of the biggest challenges, or risks, to your business is not putting yourself in your customers shoes but assuming that your behaviour, likes or dislikes are representative of your customers. The analogy of "I like blue, so why don't you" is a simple expression that articulates the difference of opinion that businesses owners and … Continue reading I like blue, so why don’t you?