Interviews

After graduating in filmmaking, I worked in the advertising industry; everything from working in the dispatch department to the creative department. I then worked in editing and client services before becoming a marketing manager. Not long after winning a marketing award, I decided to set up my own marketing agency – The Ideal Marketing Company.

We work with small business owners across a range of sectors, but mainly business to business. We listen to what they want to achieve and then advise them accordingly.

For some companies, generating lots of new leads is the priority, for others it’s all about improving the conversion process and for others still it might be achieving a premium for their services. We offer everything from help with social media to direct mail, PR, branding and even business coaching.

We like to build close relationships with our clients and always aim to be as honest as possible with them. If it’s something that we can’t help with, we will always say. I like to get to know a client well enough to be able to be quite blunt if I think that it will help them. For many clients, branding is more important than they realise, and even very small companies can learn about the importance of being consistent from the early stages.

For most of our clients we offer a complete service, although the last year has seen the amount of e-mail, online and social media work rise dramatically within the mix. Probably about 30% of our clients use us purely for PR.

They asked us about arranging the chairs and paintings in their office to create the best impression for a meeting. I’m not an interior designer so I don’t know how valid my answer was! I’m not sure why they thought I would know about that.

I think over the last 12 months social media has become more important and I use LinkedIn far more regularly than I used to.

Our website has always been an important part of attracting enquiries and it is still the biggest single source of new enquiries from complete strangers.

Our newsletter, networking and direct mail all work for us but probably speaking at seminars is the single best way for us to attract new enquiries that are pre-qualified. If they have seen me speak and agree with our approach, it’s usually a good meeting that brings results afterwards and the client is already starting to trust what we can do.

Very much so. A year ago very few of our clients were interested in having a company Facebook page. Now the majority have. That’s a big change in a short period of time.

When times are good it can be easy to grow a business without too much marketing, but in our current climate we all need to focus on what growth areas are around and what we can do to make the most of them.

Focusing on marketing and especially what is working (and what is not) is so important so that resources can be properly spent. The good news is that, if you are figuring all this out when things are harder, your marketing will be in a great state to respond when things pick up.

I think people are demanding that things work earlier – so as a result may be missing out on opportunities. It can take several tests and attempts to make a big breakthrough with even the best tested idea or product. If people give up on a campaign after three attempts they will never know how close they came. This is probably leading people to play safer with campaigns and as a result they will never know how well a more daring campaign might have worked.

Use social media, pick up the phone, e-mail people, use your contacts and network. Offer free samples of what you do, focus on how you can add value, set clear goals for all your staff about what you want the company to be. And when results start coming in, reinvest in that area. Be prepared to put the hours in on things you know work even if they feel difficult for you. Finally, test everything and aim to have multiple sources of enquiries that you know work.

People seem to be using graphics far better and appreciate better design. People are using e-mail more and telephone calls less. There is far less direct mail and much less spent on brochures. People seem to be focusing a lot on new business and perhaps neglecting their existing customers a little, which isn’t a good thing as current and past customers should be one of the best ways to grow your business.

The good news is that much online marketing is low cost. The bad news is that just like 10 years ago when people thought that ‘all they needed was a website’ people are now thinking the same with social media. Just because you have a Facebook page, does not mean that all your marketing problems are solved! I think people underestimate how much time and effort needs to go into keeping a website fresh, up to date and search engine friendly.

In almost all cases, Yes. However, how much effort you put into different aspects of it will vary a great deal. I look on it as a way of speeding up word of mouth referrals. Before it might have taken weeks for 20 people to hear a story about your company; with social media it can take minutes, and every company can benefit from good news travelling fast like that.

The fundamental principles have been around since Scientific Advertising was written almost 90 years ago so it’s important to get a good understanding of those.

Beyond that, I think it’s a good idea to keep your eyes open, stay curious and look at what is working in many different areas to see what you can adapt for your own ends.

I always think it’s a good idea to attend seminars and relevant trade shows as they are a good way of spotting trends. Not just from the speakers, but by taking to other delegates. Even talks on a subject you think you know are worth attending as it’s surprising how a different angle can trigger new thoughts.

I do my best to keep track of new activities through speaking to people I trust and subscribing to newsletters. I’ll then try to feedback any points that seem appropriate to my clients.

Businesses believing that there is a ‘right answer’. For most projects, there are a dozen right answers depending on budget, future plans and many other variables. It’s not about finding THE right answer; it’s about finding the best answer given the current circumstances.

In the 1970s and 1980s, TV advertising was King. And whilst I don’t see it disappearing, it doesn’t have the impact it once had. Less TV is now watched ‘live’ as it is far more common to fast forward through commercials.

Even with all the multiple TV channels, it is still a less sophisticated form of marketing than some of the keenly targeted internet messages that can really pinpoint exact buying habits.

Generally, I find myself creating far fewer brochures for clients as they can be a very expensive vanity exercise. More information is being created online and although there will always be a place for printed material, marketing is becoming more targeted and focused.

I really enjoy what we do, so I see my role within it being quite similar, but with perhaps more time to write marketing books. I’m working on my third book at the moment but the main constraint is time, not ideas. In the business, I think we will be about 50% bigger in the next 2 years.

1. Delivering value / results for clients by creating a solution both for them and their customers.

2. Keeping promises – and not making promises that can’t be kept.

3. Offering honest advice. Often it’s easy to respond to a quote by saying how much it will cost, when in truth, the client shouldn’t be engaged in that activity at all. We try to work with clients to engage in the best solutions for them which are not always linked to the ones they originally had in mind when they approached us.

Business owners often feel powerless when they consider themselves in relation to the economy or far larger forces that surround them. In fact, we all have a remarkable amount of control over how we run our business, how we treat clients, how we can grow our businesses.

Let others worry and get depressed about the wider economy – that’s not your job. Your job is to create opportunities out of what you have and to create a vision for how you want things to be. Even in the worst economic conditions there are opportunities all around us – as long as we have our eyes open to the possibilities.