At a networking event a while ago I met a really nice guy who the owner of a small print/copy company in a seaside town. He was interested in what low or zero cost marketing activity I would recommend to drive some very short term revenue. To cut a long story short we agreed to meet at the end of the working day and over a beer he told me all about his business. We had an enjoyable couple of hours and I promised him I'd put a few ideas down on paper for him. One of the things I suggested was to contact all the local hotels and restaurants to discuss their plans and requirements for Christmas publicity materials: menus, leaflets etc.

I was reminded of this a couple of days ago when at another networking event the host hotel had their Christmas leaflets on the table - "Looks like my timing was about right," I thought. Now it doesn't take a genius to work out that Christmas comes around every year but what are the other drivers of business that operate on cycles? Going back to the printer, he was situated very close to an FE College. Students have dissertations to complete often towards the end of the academic year. We all know about the historic rush to book summer holidays just after Christmas and the peak in house price sales in spring and Autumn (is that still happening in the credit crunch?). Valentines day and the school terms are all very predictable.

Thinking more locally we have things like Canterbury Festival, The Whitstable Oyster Festival and the Faversham Hop Festival. All generate lots of business activity. We also have harvest time on the farms and holidaymakers during the summer months.  Less obvious are the hidden cycles that can be key to your revenue and growth. Who are your big customers and what is their budgeting cycle? When does supplier selection take place? When do budgets get set and when does spend have to be made?

So today I am asking you to think about your cycles. What are the things that happen on a regular basis that create peaks in demand. If it's not obvious look back over your sales figures and look for peaks in sales or revenue. Are there peaks that happen at about the same time every week, month, quarter, year? Do you know what causes the increased demand?

Also think about things that happen that could create demand for your products but maybe you're not exploiting right now. The key thing here understand the timescales and plan for them. How far ahead of the event will the purchasing decisions be made? 

Once you have a few ideas you can proactively begin marketing around them. Get in early, be proactive and clean up the business before your competitors realise what's happened.

If you spend an hour or so think about this and really can't come up with anything well never mind. Maybe you'll get a cycle for Christmas.

Clients either look at me with horror or stare glassy-eyed into the distance when I ask them about the numbers that drive their marketing decisions.  And I recall at university that the ‘analytical methods for marketing’ was one of the least popular modules!  People think of marketing as fluffy, creative stuff, but the reality is that numbers and analysis should underpin all your activities.  While I accept not everyone will take to this subject with equal enthusiasm, I do venture to suggest that you work out which numbers are the critical measures for your business.

Here’s a quick run through of some of the main contenders – not exhaustive by any means, but something to get you started!

1 - Targets

Marketing activity should support the overall business goals you set, for example revenue and profit in 1 year, 3 years, etc.  From a top level financial goal you can make some assumptions about the numbers of customers this represents, how much business will come from new and how much from existing customers, how many leads you need to generate and, ultimately, how much budget you can afford to invest in your marketing to achieve these targets.

2 – Profitability

The marginal profit you make per customer or per transaction is a critical piece of information needed when setting your prices.  Is it better to sell less at a higher price, or do you make more money at a set volume?  What cost per customer or sale can you afford to sustain in your business?  How can you develop your product or service to add value and drive up your margins?

3 – The Market

Define your market and you can work out how big it is – in revenue and customer numbers.  Important if you don’t want to find your targets mean you are after a very large slice of a very small pie!  Knowing the size of the market means you can estimate your own market share (current and targeted) and, if you have enough knowledge of your competitors, how well you are doing compared to other players in the same field.  It also determines the strategy that will work best for you in your sales and promotions.

4 – Sales Process

What is the average lead time for conversion of your prospects into sales?  This can be crucial in planning for high value contracts where decisions can take a very long time.  Conversion rates can tell you how effective your sales dialogue is and identify areas for improvement, as well as how good the quality of the leads are that you are generating.  Not forgetting, of course, data on cancellations if your business relies on ongoing revenue from an installed/supported customer base – these may be telling you that you need to make improvements to your product/service.

5 – Promotions

I can’t hope to describe every number that you could be capturing and analysing related to your marketing campaign activity, but the rule is ‘whatever you are doing take some measurements’.  You’ll know, of course, that one of the things people love about online or electronic communications is the way you get so much data and information about how they are working – so use it!  Make sure you have analytics on your website so you know what visitors do when they get there, ensure you can track your newsletters and emails ‘click through’ rates, and remember to record how your customers eventually come to you. 

For every method you use to promote your company there is a means to measure it, unfortunately some routes are only available if you have the money to invest in research, so you will have to add some intuition to the measures you can make.  No harm in that, the best campaigns work through ‘layering’, i.e. using more than one route to enter a customer’s consciousness, which means it is harder to isolate the impact of any individual element.

Measures of promotions success will allow you to work out your ROI (return on investment) and help you see if you are spending wisely when it comes to marketing in order to hit the targets discussed in point 1, above.

They say knowledge is power, and data can give you knowledge, ergo … so take time out each month to ‘know your numbers’ and make better decisions!

You may or may not have noticed, but I followed the example of the French this summer and took the whole of August off!  I've thoroughly enjoyed the brilliant summer we've had here in the south-east - but I have to confess it is hard to settle back at the desk when the blue skies are still taunting me through the window.  However, now I am back I am making a short departure from the marketing myths series I started because I am driven to write about my distress at the way I have seen ‘marketing' portrayed recently - mostly because the bad press seems to be warranted.

"Marketing" (a generic term, written and spoken with a sneer or a metaphorical spit on the ground, and conjuring up pictures of sharp young execs in global organisations or ad agencies) it seems is behind many of the ills in society, be that obesity, anti-social behaviour, or the breakdown in communities.

I'll give just a couple of examples.  I was watching a TV documentary recently about how little consumers understand of what goes into their food.  An experiment was carried out, with the help of a design agency, to prove that with the right packaging, naming and imagery "marketing" could convince the buyer that the item (a meat pie in this example) was wholesome and trustworthy.  This despite the fact that the small print ingredients list identified the contents as reclaimed meat and gristle combined with a cocktail of flavours and preservatives. 

And I have recently read ‘Toxic Childhood' by Sue Palmer who sets out to explain why so many children these days suffer from learning difficulties and disruptive behaviour, and why society as a whole should care about this.  Her hypothesis sets out a complex interaction of different factors, but behind many of them is the evil hand of "marketing".  As in the previous example, "marketing" can convince the unwary public that they are buying good wholesome food while actually creating very unhealthy eating habits.  And children are specifically targeted as an audience to create ‘pester power' for foods, toys, games and all manner of merchandise linked to film and TV characters.  

All of this left me feeling quite shamefaced about my profession.  While I don't believe there is a malicious or evil intent behind these activities, I do think that the profession of marketing needs to take responsibility for the long term repercussions of its actions.  While the marketing folk involved may justify what they do on the grounds of consumer choice and meeting real needs (for speed, convenience, entertainment, etc.) the evidence is now mounting that there are downsides to our fast-paced lives and that we cannot assume that we the public do have the information, or the inclination, to make fully informed choices.  The convenience of ready-meals and TV dinners has been shown to be responsible for the decline in families eating together, which in turn is leading to breakdown in communication skills and family life.  Not something that was foreseen at the outset, I'm sure.

But we should remember that markets are not passive or static. Consumers (or the market) can also play a stronger role in this process by demanding better controls and more honest information on products and packaging.  Government may also need to play a more authoritative role.  Ultimately, being an optimist by nature, I am hopeful that "marketing" will respond to this problem by recognising the real needs of society and developing and promoting products that will reverse these negative trends.  There are some small signs of the start of this process through the introduction of healthy options and games that encourage active rather than sedentary lives (e.g. Wii fit) which, putting cynicism aside, is a step in the right direction.

In the meantime, my personal experience with working with many marketers in businesses in the UK, is that they have integrity and honesty in abundance.  So I shall hold my head high and continue to defend marketing as an essential and positive aspect of our market economy!

When I talk with clients and bring up the subject of how and when they stay in touch with prospects and customers most people look at their shoes and mumble something about ‘not wanting to be a nuisance'.  And of course setting out to annoy your target audience is likely to be counterproductive.  But the problem only really exists if want you have to say is unwelcome - which probably means irrelevant to their needs.

I don't know the origin, but I often hear it quoted that it takes 7 contacts to convert a customer.  And I recently heard that 90% of leads captured are followed up less than 4 times - leaving a fair amount of untapped potential sitting in those leads.  Contact can be in many forms - reading about you in the press, seeing adverts, phone conversations, mail/newsletters (post or electronic) - not just a simple repetition of the same message and media.  But each contact is an opportunity to grow awareness of your brand, understanding of the value you can offer, and ultimately to increase sales. 

So the question is ‘what is too often'?  And the answer, as always, is ‘it depends'.  It depends on whether you have something new or interesting to say or offer, it depends on the type of product or service you sell, it depends on likely frequency of purchase, it depends on what your competitors are doing, it depends what you can handle in terms of delivery (personally I think daily blogging is going too far!).  And it also depends on what kind of a choice you offer your market over whether they have to listen or can turn you off!  You need to weigh up what you know about your customers with your goals and objectives.  What is clear is that one contact is unlikely to be enough - so for most of the people I speak with there is a long way to go before they risk alienating potential buyers!

The best way to grow a business is to stay in touch with your existing client base - whether it is to sell them more of the same, something new, or to get referrals to new customers.  A local painter and decorator always send his past clients Christmas cards with a personal message and business cards to pass on.  Guess who is top of the list to call when the next room needs a lick of paint?

I think it is a good idea to mix the different types (phone, email, etc.), but the advent of email and internet has given all of us a cost effective and accessible means of maintaining regular contact.  Software to manage email campaigns and newsletters is readily available, and building up a database of leads, prospects and customers is an essential business tool.  If you're not using this means of marketing to some degree already then you are just plain crazy! 

If you have a list that you are sending messages to regularly, and if you are tracking who opens your emails, you may get downhearted and question the point of doing it when there appear to be large numbers of people not reading your efforts but not bothering to unsubscribe either.  These people are usually referred to as ‘emotionally unsubscribed'.  And some e-marketing organisations recommend you ‘cull' your list as including these people in your statistics make your results look poor.

However, in an article at MarketingProfs I came across another view - that these people should be termed ‘unemotionally subscribed', meaning they remain interested but just don't need what you are selling right now.  Ignoring your messages until they are ready to buy is easier than finding you again at a later date.   They quote some interesting statistics:

• Ten percent of one company's revenue in 2008 came from subscribers who opened not a single email in 2007.
• An outstanding offer from another company generated £70,000 in sales from subscribers who had not opened the previous 25 to 40 email messages.

This makes sense to me - I get quite a few promotional emails that I don't open or respond to right away.  As long as you provide an easy opt-out mechanism then I think it is safe to assume that your customers are thinking that they might need you someday - just not yet!

The bottom line is that your business needs a planned contact strategy for leads, prospects and customers - how you do it needs to be right for you and them, but being afraid of being annoying is not a good excuse for no contact at all!

We live in an age of hype, where exaggeration and extreme claims get you noticed.  And marketing is, unfortunately, one of the major culprits.  Everyday I am invited to learn the next guaranteed way to make millions on the internet, how to attract more customers than you'll know what to do with, or why some new idea or technique will change my life.  And I meet many people who set themselves up to sell expertise that, scratch the surface, they don't really have.  Does owning a camera make you a photographer?  Does being able to hold a pen make you a writer?  Does advertising make you a marketer?  Those peddling Snake Oil make a convincing case.

Despite the impression you might get, marketing is not a set of mystical spells to cast over your customer base. Generally the concepts are based in common sense but require insight and experience of customer behaviour and emotions to make them work.  The reason I am dwelling on this subject is that I am preparing for the CIM (Chartered Institute of Marketing) Simply Better Marketing seminar this week.  We're running sessions with Business Link and Christchurch University to help Small Businesses get better at marketing, and we're using Chartered Marketers to deliver the presentations and follow-up with attendees.  And in the course of doing this we aim to get greater recognition for this little known professional qualification and the confidence it gives that we know what we are talking about!

Choosing a marketing supplier to trust, or even how to select marketing staff, can be a minefield - particularly given the tendency to outrageous claims as above!  But it is not all Snake Oil!  You need to look for depth and breadth of real experience as well as appropriate qualifications.  Chartered Marketers have not only to prove they have the background knowledge in marketing in order to receive the award, but they have to maintain it through continuous professional development (35 hours annually).  

We seem, as a society, to be continually de-valuing the concept of hard work.  I certainly notice it with my own children who berate me for working too hard!  The idea that you need to learn how to do something and then gain practical experience, and true expertise, by applying it over time is laughed at.  But in truth nothing is that easy.  Despite the hype, we all know there are few overnight successes or ways to get rich without breaking sweat.  Or we'd all be millionaires by now!

My advice is cultivate a healthy scepticism and look beyond the headlines to look for evidence to back up the claims.  If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

* From Wikipedia: Snake Oil is a traditional Chinese medicine used to treat joint pain.  However the most common usage of the phrase is as a derogatory term for compounds offered as medicines which implies they are fake or ineffective.  The expression is also applied metaphorically to any product with exaggerated marketing, but questionable or unverifiable quality or benefit.

I'm just back from the first of the seminars I am organising with the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Business Link and Christchurch University - this one on the importance of focusing on satisfying customers to grow profits.  The audience was made up of small, local businesses and they all agreed it was useful to take time out from ‘running' the business to think a bit more deeply about ‘managing' the business.

In the session, lead by Sharon Cox of Balfour Beatty, we were at pains to point out (my personal mantra) that marketing is not just about advertising!   Once you stop being busy and ‘step into the customer's shoes' you realise that almost every aspect of your business is about marketing.  That there is a long list of opportunities that you have to influence customer's perceptions and the impressions they have of your company and your products and services.  That not just you but everyone in your company needs to take responsibility for marketing.

Every touchpoint in your business is an opportunity to delight - or dismay - a prospective or current customer.  You only have to think about your own experiences to know it's true.  Little things like how you/your people answer the phone, how prompt and courteous everyone is, how easy your instructions are to use, how you deal with complaints, how clean your vans are - not to mention did your product/service deliver what it promised!  Have you solved a problem for the customer?  And do you even know?

That is the amazing thing about customer satisfaction - it doesn't need to be hard or expensive.  But it does take a bit of time, effort and attention to detail.  And if you don't know the answers then just ask the question - and listen to the answer.  Or take some advice from an outsider who can give you an objective view.  This is one circumstance where the customer is always right, because whatever they tell you is what they perceive to be true.  Maybe you mislead them, unintentionally of course.  However, if you find they have got the wrong idea you then have the opportunity to put it right.

Satisfied customers keep coming back for me and can recommend you to others.  But remember dissatisfied customers will tell even more people, so ignore this aspect of your marketing at your peril!

The next two free breakfast seminars are on pricing (25 March) and promotion (30 April).  If you're in the Canterbury area and fancy coming along you can find details on my website or can book at www.eventskent.co.uk.

I've recently become involved in delivering sales training to account managers and sales managers in a large organisation, and I've been reminded of the tension (some would say animosity) that exists between the two key business disciplines of sales and marketing.  Strange perhaps, given they are so closely related, but I guess it is their very inter-dependence that means it is easy to blame each other when things are not going well.

When I was running marketing programmes back in BT I was often guilty of cursing my counterparts in Sales, but the truth is that the best results came when we really managed to work together and get the end-to-end process of customer engagement running smoothly.  Complex hierarchies and over-inflated egos don't help matters of course.

Marketing's role is to make sales happen more easily:  to create an environment in which the customer is informed and convinced of the value of your company's offer and is moved to buy (not once but again and again if possible).  I heard once, not sure where, that selling is making people buy what you have but that marketing is selling them what they want.  This is a subtle but important distinction - especially when everyone is tightening their belts.

The more significant and complex the purchase then the greater the emphasis on the sales person, but in some cases, of course, customers buy direct without human sales support (not counting the person on the cash register who may, or may not, add additional value).  At the end of the day people buy from people and the quality of the interaction with your sales and service personnel will directly affect your success.

In smaller companies the lines between sales and marketing become increasingly blurred, and are often functions performed by one and the same person or people.  Hopefully this helps to remove some of the antagonism mentioned earlier, but it emphasises the importance of looking at the end to end customer experience.  That means reviewing every touchpoint the customer has with your organisation: in the press, in signage, in signage, on the phone, by email, in packaging, invoicing.  Every aspect of your business.   At each and every point you need to demonstrate your ability to deliver the value the customer is looking for.

Successful marketing will drive successful selling - but could all come to nothing unless the two disciplines are working in tandem.  A healthy tension can demand improvements from both sides, but too much tension can sabotage results.  What's the relationship between sales and marketing like in your team?