Do you have questions about marketing? I’m sure you do - otherwise you probably would not be reading this. ;) I’ve been a marketing nerd since the turn of the century and I get a lot of questions. Some questions are unique. With others I get a lot of the same. What I’ve found interesting is that with so many of the questions I get, there is only one way to find the answer. I find myself saying the same things over and over and over again. It gets a bit frustrating - not just for me - but for the people that ask me. They get frustrated by always getting the same answer. The thing is, … [Read more...]
SWOT Analysis – what, why and how?
SWOT analysis has been used for decades and gives you a systematic way of analysing the market, and when combined with other analysis tools such as PESTLE (see below), can be a great way to reduce the risk of missing something important. There are just so many things out there that it's easy to miss crucial things if you are not careful. So what the heck is SWOT Analysis? Why should you do it? And how on earth do you do it? Let me tell you how - it's actually quite fun ;) What Is SWOT Analysis? SWOT analysis is an evaluation tool. It can be used to evaluate a business venture or other kind … [Read more...]
Measuring Marketing Effectiveness
Do you measure effectiveness of your marketing? It’s a cliché: “You can’t manage what you can’t measure.” But clichés are clichés for a reason. And the reason is more often than not because they are true. How do you know whether something is working or whether it’s not? Can you afford to waste time on something that it isn't working? Can you afford to waste money on something that isn't working? Is there any reason to be doing things that aren't working for you? First of all, every time you do a specific marketing activity or put something in place like when you set up a Facebook … [Read more...]
Don’t Be An Ass – You Need To Do Market Research!
I woke from a bad dream the other day. I was working with a large group of people and suddenly I realised that they were just making up things about their target groups, rather than having any real information. And it reminded me of something I have always known, but one tends to forget. None of us can read minds! (If I am wrong, and you can, please get in touch because I really really really want to talk to you! :) Not only did I assume that they knew they had to do some research to get to know more about their target groups - and thereby assumed they could read my mind - they also assumed … [Read more...]
Stop Trying to Sell!
Peter Drucker said: "...the aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous. The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself. Ideally, marketing should result in a customer who is ready to buy. All that should be needed then is to make the product or service available." No one wants to be interrupted Despite this, there are always people out there who continue with salesmanship, à la used car salesmen. There are courses on salesmanship, sales techniques, closing the sale etc. etc. There are still people who you … [Read more...]