Articles to Help Your Marketing Effort

A series of article originally written for The VAR magazine are available here http://www.communicating.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=39&Itemid=36
If you need help with your marketing I hope you find these articles stimulating. If you would like further advice or help, or simply to discuss your marketing for the next few months, please call Chris on 023 8028 2366 or visit http://www.communicating.co.uk/ Thank you!

Images and Photographs in your marketing

A picture is worth a thousand words – well actually an image is worth a thousand words in marketing terms!

Many different kinds of images can be used in brochures and websites and can communicate a point much more effectively than words alone. Let’s look as some examples:

1                    Positioning Maps

Positioning maps are normally 4 dimensional and may compare price with performance or facilities against price or any other parameters. For heat exchangers the parameters may be pressure and efficiency. You can overlay more than one graph on a positioning map by using different colours. Positioning maps are perceived as factual and so can be a good way of comparing your products with your competitors products.

2                    Diagrams

Diagrams can be used to pictorially show a complex process or hierarchy. A diagram can explain a complex process much more effectively than describing it by words.

3                    Photographs

Photographs can add excitement, colour, credibility and attract peoples eye to your message. Testimonials are an important part of marketing communications and are more likely to be read than case studies. Testimonials can also say things of you that you could not say yourself. If you analyse your sales process you will know you come across the same objections. The objection might be price, or service or some other aspect of your proposition. Testimonials can be used to overcome objections. An example of overcoming a price objection might be “Soandso is slightly more expensive than some suppliers but they include delivery so actually they are cheaper and we also found them quicker”. 

Photographs can be of people, products, premises or places. Photographs of people add credibility to your brochure or website and should always accompany testimonials. Very often the reader will recognise someone and this will make them much more interested.

4                    Images

Images can include logo’s, trade marks, brands, product and any other image that people associate with a product, company or person. Images should be easily recognised and add value and credibility to your message.

If you need help or advice on your marketing strategy, please call Chris on 023 8028 2366 or visit http://www.communicating.co.uk/ Thank you!

Marketing Questions we should all be asking.

Questions that can help save money

Do your staff record where each enquiry comes from?

Do you analyse where the best enquiries come from?

Do you know how much it costs to generate an enquiry that turns into a sale?

Do you know how your company compares with your competitors?

Questions that can increase gross profit margins and sell more

Do you have lots of testimonials on your website and in your brochures?

Are you clear about your Unique Selling Points (USP’s)?

Do you feel you have enough USP’s?

Do you understand your customers as well as you would like?

Do you know why your customers buy from you?

Do you understand your market as well as you would like?

How well known is your company/brand?

·                    Do you have a clear brand identity?

·                    Do you have clear brand values?

·                    Do you have a brand strategy?

·                    Is your brand vitality rising or falling?

These are the questions you should be asking on a continuous basis. Understanding the answers to these questions will help you focus your valuable resources on where you will get the most benefit, both increasing sales and gross profit margins and reducing costs on those aspects of marketing that are not working so well.

An example may be advertising in Yellow Pages. A lot of directors think they get most of their business from Yellow Page but, in fact, they get most of their enquiries from Yellow Pages but very little sales because Yellow Pages tends to be used by people looking for the cheapest.

If you need help with your marketing strategy, please call Chris on 023 8028 2366 or visit http://www.communicating.co.uk/ Thank you!

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