As the marketing landscape continues to evolve, two
of Australia’s leading marketers offer essential tips on staying ahead of
the pack.

Communicating with customers is now about multiple touchpoints, from traditional to tailored to digital. But getting the mix right is easier said than done and embracing new technology is not without risk. Here’s some advice on how to do it.

Roger James – director at Roger James & Associates

Understand and leverage your brand
No matter how large or small your business, your brand has the potential to improve your bottom line and become your most valuable asset. A strong brand will increase customer loyalty and command a price premium.

Pricing should be used with great care
Generating sales solely through price reductions is a sure way to marketing death. Bonuses, incentives or added-value offers are preferable to price cuts that erode margins and cheapen your product.

Analyse marketing costs and their benefits
Budgets should be planned to ensure expenditure is directed as effectively as possible. Stage ad campaigns so you can monitor response. Chart their impact on profit margins and net profits and plan your marketing budgets to maximise returns.

Understand your market through research
Research can be as simple as talking to customers and asking questions, such as how they found out about your business, what are your best and worst services, and so on. You might be surprised what you discover, and your business will benefit from it.

Ask yourself – can I increase marketing efficiency and reduce costs through new media?
While the principles of good marketing endure, online and digital channels can help you find and communicate with potential customers at very low marginal cost. And if you can actually sell your product online, your cost of sales can be dramatically reduced.

Jo Macdermott – owner and chief marketing consultant of Next Marketing

Complexity means cost
By making marketing projects or campaigns complex, they are more difficult to manage. Keep them simple and you can spend more time managing the process.

Skill up or buy skill in
There are three ways to do marketing – do it yourself, hire a specialist staff member or outsource. If marketing is not in your skill set but you don’t have the budget or the scope to hire an external company, then upskill yourself. Doing a short course is a lot better that trying to wing it.

Concentrate on a single form of social media
Social media is a beast. There are so many elements but only one or two mediums may be relevant to you. In a B2B setting, it tends to be LinkedIn. In a consumer setting, it may be Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus. Start with one and do it exceptionally well, but sign up for accounts on the others so you reserve the name.

Create a monthly marketing calendar
It might be as simple as having one or two things to do each month. Similar to invoicing, which companies often do on a Friday, having a regular routine of marketing activities is vital.

Go beyond what is free
I am a big fan of free resources, such as www.sourcebottle.com.au, but free offerings won’t get you enough. Don’t ignore them, just keep in mind that by only doing free things, you are limiting your scope.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and the interviewees, and not of Australia Post.

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