Marketing Tips that don’t cost the earth

Today’s format…

• Why is marketing expensive?

• Time vs Cost• Editorial

techniques

• Digital techniques• Face to face

techniques• GROOVY TOOLS

Why is marketing so expensive?

• Specialist tools cost a lot of money

• High expectations• There’s no such thing as a five

minute job• There’s often a value put on

‘reach’ e.g advertising circulations/eyeballs/footfall

Time versus cost

Money hungry

• Exhibitions• Advertising• Sponsorship• Direct mail• Websites

Time hungry

• Social media• Blogging• Networking• Face to face

techniques

Editorial techniques

How the UK press operates

• National • Times, Telegraph, Independent, Sun, NoTW etc.

• Regional• Scotsman, Western Mail, Yorkshire Evening Post, MEN

• Local• Lancaster Guardian, Westmorland Gazette, Cumberland News

• Trade• The Grocer, Computer Weekly, Pig Farming Today, Pork Pie Gazette

• General consumer• Vanity Fair, FHM, Cosmopolitan, Country Life

• Specialist consumer• Trail, Saga, Slimming World, Gardening Today, Needles & Pins

• Broadcast• BBC, ITV, C4, C5 plus all cable and satellite channels – and Radio

• Online• Blogs, online magazines

Editorial techniques

• Press releases• Case study articles• Opinion pieces• Product reviews• Letters to the

editor

• Competitions• Piggy-backing• Feature tracking• Photo stories• Building

relationships with journalists

Know the press in your sector

• Every industry has its own trade press

• Read by everyone in that sector

• Influential and powerful• Possible to get coverage

without having hot news

Media Hooks

• There are 5 media hooks guaranteed to get coverage in any national newspaper or broadcast media…

How does that help you?

• Change–What has changed? If nothing – there’s

no story

• People– People make a story come alive – case

studies, testimonials etc.

• Conflict– Two schools of thought fighting – e.g.

energy debate, law suit stories, bucking the trend

Overview of ways to get coverage

• News• Features• Letters page• Profile articles• Opinion article• Press events• Exhibitions and trade shows• Statistics and surveys

• Blogs• Piggy backing• Story pitching• Competitions• Reviews• Stunts• Social media

Press releases

• The first step for press relations• Reasons for sending a release…

• New order win• New product or service• Something has changed in your organisation

» Investment, new senior staff

• Partnership agreements• Financial results• Quirky human interest stories

» Charity involvement, the ‘British eccentric’

• Industry specific• Part of a wider issue in

your industry• Press releases• Use relevant quotes,

statistics and pictures

Oxley’s Health Spa, Ambleside

Opinion articles

• Coverage without news• Controversial comment

is always welcome• Pick ‘hot topics’

Profile Pieces

Great when you have no news

‘Pitch’ when you are in the middle of a positive trading period

Look for an unusual angle

Features

Stunt examples…

But…

• Newspaper circulations are declining• Online information is the future• Publication houses must re-invent

themselves• People now value ‘interactive’

capabilities• People want a voice of their own

Face to face techniques

• Networking clubs• Speaking

engagements• Visiting trade

shows• Attending

conferences• Share trade stand

space

• Referral networks• Buzz marketing• Collaborative

networking• Mentoring schemes• Volunteering

Digital techniques

• Twitter• Facebook• YouTube• Pinterest• Blogging• Guest blogging• Viral memes

• Email marketing• List building• Banner advertising• Ecommerce• Reciprocal links

• http://www.vcita.com/home

• https://hootsuite.com/ • www.google.com/alerts• http://www.smartinsigh

ts.com/search-engine-marketing/keyphrase-analysis/seo-keyword-research/

• http://www.wordstream.com/free-internet-marketing-tools

• http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/15432.aspx#

You can download slides at:

www.brightsparkmarketing.com/downloads

Blue Ocean Strategy

Red oceans

• Full of bloody competition• The rules are created by

someone else• You become obsessed with

what your competitors are doing

• The ocean is crowded with too many people doing and saying the same thing

• Marketing is expensive – you have to out spend or out-shout everyone else

Blue oceans

• Competition is irrelevant because the rules have not been set yet

• You’re creating a new and uncontested market space

• You are offering customers real value innovation

• Customers will come to you and which means marketing costs less

ELIMINATE RAISE

REDUCE CREATE