One thing that constantly surprises us when helping SMEs with their marketing, is how few have got in place any sort of system to manage their marketing and keep track of clients, prospects and contacts.
If there is one piece of advice we’d give to SMEs around marketing, it would be to get a marketing plan in place, if I could give two pieces of advice, we’d also recommend that they get in place a system to manage their marketing –such a system is often called a CRM or Customer Relationship Management tool.
With businesses always looking to get as much value from their marketing investment as possible, a CRM is a fantastically effective tool that allows marketers to control, measure, manage and monitor the various marketing activities they undertake; giving them the information they need to use their resources most efficiently.
On countless occasions we come across businesses that have undertaken a variety of marketing campaigns, which have never been followed up and the contacts lost. A CRM system will capture prospect information, as well as that of existing customers, giving your business a comprehensive history of communications with those individuals, allowing you to improve your customer service as well as that of your marketing’s effectiveness.
So why, if we don’t sell CRM systems, are we rhapsodising about them so much?
Well, firstly, experience has shown that it is often impossible to be efficient without one in place. Secondly, there are some pretty impressive statistics to support its introduction into a business:
Benchmark studies from IDC (International Data Corporation) reveal that CRM applications account for:
Business Link has identified a range of benefits connected to these statistics, which provide compelling reasons to introduce CRM software to your business.
They also provide a case study about the successful integration of CRM into a small business.
The limitation of a CRM is that its effectiveness is restricted by the quality of the information put into it. If you and your team are not committed to inputting the appropriate information, a CRM is pointless. But populated it with relevant and accurate data and a CRM is a business’ best friend.
Hopefully, we’ve now convinced you of the importance of using a CRM in your business. We thought it would be helpful to direct you to some of the ones out there. It is important that you choose one that is right for your needs. There are a multitude of options and often the variety can be daunting.
We use a CRM called Sugar CRM and have opted for the opensource version. It suits our needs but you might want something different.
Below are a few options we have come across and are being used successfully by our clients.
Most will let you have a free trial before you buy, so have a look at them all and choose the one for you.
So if you are thinking about what Santa could get your business this Christmas, make sure a CRM is on your list.
If you’ve had experiences with these or any other CRMs, good or bad, we’d love to hear from you and your thoughts.
In 2010, TLC Business talked about the impact of social media on your business, how lead generation can help you generate new clients and how an SME can go green. So with 2010 nearly behind us, what marketing trends can we expect for 2011?
We have produced a shortlist of what we think will be making the marketing headlines next year, the news we will be reading, blogging and tweeting about.
The age of Social Media
The past few years have seen people and businesses experiment with Social Media tools. Social Media in 2011 will no longer be considered new. In 2011, we will see businesses include Social Media in their marketing strategies, taking full advantage of the social networking opportunities on offer.
SMEs that use Facebook to market business-to-business campaigns will receive a new set of tools from the social media giant. Facebook Pages has released new analytic tools to assist small businesses in better gauging their traffic by posting impression counts. The change will allow small businesses that receive less than 10,000 “likes” to monitor the success of posted content and give SMEs an edge against competitors. Additionally, small companies will be able to see who viewed their posts and post feedback. In turn, they will be able to create better targeted Facebook advertising campaigns.
Not only will businesses be able to take advantage of the growing capabilities of Facebook, shopaholics will also benefit from the power of the Social Media tool. Facebook are capitalising on the fact that many online shoppers like to review, network and interact as they shop. Online storefronts are adding networking platforms to their virtual operations, while marketers are aiming to include social media sites in their sales strategy. With the help of Facebook, you can now take your shopping experience to the next level.
However, unlike 2010, 2011 may not all be about Facebook and Twitter. Google’s top secret foray into social media, ‘Google Me’, has been delayed until March / April 2011. The top-secret plan is rumoured to be a Google branded social platform. According to Google, it won’t be a social network the way people think of Facebook, but rather social information about who your friends are and the people you interact with.
“We are always experimenting with new ways to improve our products, and we have already confirmed that we are focused on incorporating social elements across Google, but we have nothing new to announce”
So what does Google have up their sleeve? Well, we will just have to wait until Spring 2011 to see whether Google’s latest attempt will be a triumph or failure, like Wave and Buzz. Only time will tell.
What we can say now, is that Social Media is only set to grow even bigger than before. If your business isn’t on Facebook or Twitter, it soon will be.
Keep an eye out for more 2011 marketing trends.
Last week, the team here at TLC Business predicted that social media in 2011 will no longer be considered as new. Businesses will be including social media in their marketing strategies, taking full advantage of the social networking opportunities on offer.
So what else can we expect in 2011? The team here at TLC Business predict that 2011 will see a massive boom in mobile marketing. Mobile marketing has recently exploded due to the introduction and success of the Iphone and Ipad, technology is now instant, portable and personalised.
The growth in use of Apple App store has been phenomenal; increasing by several billions of downloads in 2010. According to reports, mobiles will be more widely used then desktops in 2014, with smart phones expecting to account for over a quarter of sales in 2011. Studies have reported that mobile marketing is 10 times more effective then web banners and on average 4 to 5 times more effective then online advertising.
More and more consumers will be tuning into the world of phone apps in 2011, as innovations in the Iphone, Ipad and Android phones enable retailers to increase their engagement with customers.
“Mobiles are now another tool to add to the smart shopper’s tool belt and allow retailers to meet current and potential clients in a new sphere”
Companies are going to have to provide content that is optimised for mobile devices. This includes content such as contact information, links that promote your brand and landing pages that build your database. Not only will companies have to display smart phone friendly information, they will also have to respond to their consumer needs through the likes of mobile advertisement and text messaging.
2011 will be an exciting year for businesses. Not only can B2C companies take advantage of the success of mobile marketing, but there are also opportunities for B2B businesses to engage with new clients. As the adoption of smart phones grow, so will the future opportunities.
Growing your business means spotting potential emerging opportunities and taking advantage of them quickly, before your competitors move in. It’s difficult to break into new markets, and a partnership can bring instant access to new customers. If your company has the technical know-how; another company can have the resources to bring that know-how to market. This year there have been rumours of a collaboration of Skype and Facebook. The partnership will include the integration of SMS, voice chat and Facebook Connect into Skype to make Facebook a central communications and messaging platform for its users.
The Skype-Facebook tie-up will prove attractive to businesses as much as consumers, because many SMEs already use Skype as well as Facebook and Twitter. Even if this collaboration turns out to be just rumour, it points to a natural evolutionary step of bringing together community and communication technologies, this combination could become very attractive and useful to enterprises, as well as consumers.
Alongside Facebook and Skype, two global brands, BMW and Saab are also eyeing up a possible collaboration. After turning to BMW for help with an engine to power a possible revival of the Saab 92, it seems the Swedes at Saab could be returning the favour. Since Saab has a lot of experience with front wheel drive and BMW have confirmed that they would like to create such a model, the two companies could take the collaboration to a new level. The possible partnership between BMW and Saab could mean that their 92 model and the new BMW could share the same underpinnings. The collaboration will revolve around the production of a tear-drop shaped car, which is inspired by the Saab 92 model, produced from 1949 until 1956. To keep the mystery and secrecy around this possible new model, Saab said in an official statement:
“We indeed are looking for alliance partners but no cooperation with has been confirmed at this time. A smaller Saab below the 9-3 is not currently in our business plan though it would be on our wish list”.
So will this collaboration be the perfect partnership or will it, like many relationships have a rough patch?
Strategic alliances, if thought about, planned and implemented properly can be the perfect tool to help a business generate new clients. However collaborations are not just for big global brands, SMEs can also benefit from collaborating with like minded companies who also want to produce a clear path for new business and future success.
Though Box is a new service that helps you get organised in 2011. This new tool may come in handy for those of you whose New Year’s resolutions were to become more organised and efficient.
Twileshare, the time consuming process of uploading a file to Twitter has now been improved with this new online app. It is a free web service that uploads your files and lets you tweet their shortened URL at the same time. Upload and share anything from images, documents, PDFs, eBooks and more.
View Marks is a browser add-on for Mozilla Firefox, for version 3.5 onwards. The add-on adds an icon to your Firefox’s address bar. Clicking on this icon presents a thumbnail view of all your bookmarks. Instead of looking for the bookmark’s title, you can immediately click the thumbnail icon corresponding to the bookmark you wish to visit.
When we speak with businesses, the most common marketing objective they are focused on is bringing in new clients. The majority of resources are usually channelled towards the undoubtedly important activity of new business generation.
Whilst new business development is clearly a vital activity in any organisation, it is important that we don’t neglect or take for granted the businesses that you are already in a relationship with, your customers.
With Valentine’s Day on the horizon, we thought it was a great time to highlight the importance of taking the trouble to show your current customers that you care. Without them you wouldn’t be in business, so make sure they know how important they are to you.
Famously, it is 5 times more expensive to acquire a new customer, compared with retaining and satisfying an existing customer’s needs. At a time when businesses are looking to get maximum value from their marketing budgets, customer retention has to be high on your list of priorities.
It is essential to keep in touch with your clients on a regular basis. Regular communication builds and strengthens relationships, ensuring you will benefit from your customer’s business for years to come. If you are good at showing you care and delivering what they need, your customers will become advocates for your organisation, referring you to friends, colleagues and companies, generating the new business that allows your business to grow.
Taking the time to understand your customer, their business and environment in which they operate, is an essential first step in laying a solid foundation for a good client relationship.
Building and maintaining effective and rewarding relationships with clients has many benefits:
Below are our Top 5 ways to keep the lines of communication open and develop close relationships with your clients:
1. Social media is a cost-effective tool to keep your business in contact with your current clients. Use Facebook and Twitter to follow their latest events, news and articles, ‘like’ their wall posts and re tweet their twitter feeds.
2. When interacting with a client, communication is very important. Stay in touch with your clients through e-newsletters and e-shots. Send reminders about special promotions you’re running, notifications about new merchandise you’re stocking or newsletters about community events that you’re sponsoring.
3. Personal communication is key, call and meet with your clients on a monthly, if not weekly basis. Spend time learning more about their business. Find out what problems they have and how you or your network might be able to help them.
4. Run events and seminars for your clients, providing them with a great networking opportunity, as well as a chance to learn more about the services you provide.
5. Finally, send your clients direct mail campaigns to say thank you. A simple thank you card, box of chocolates or personalised gift can go a long way.
Everyone is out to win new business but make sure you don’t forget your current loved ones.
1. When designing a website or simply putting together an email campaign, it is important what colours you use and place together. SwatchSpot is a simple and useful online tool that can help you by generating random colour swatches so that you can check the combination and see if the colours look good together.
2. Like many, the team here at TLC Business can be hit by the dreaded writers block. Why not try One Word, the idea is to put your free writing to the test and get your spontaneous thoughts out there. Your sentences are also put on display. Take a look at the responses from other writers and you will see that everyone has their own take on what a word means to them.
3. How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer tries to answer two questions, how does the human mind make decisions? And how can we make those decisions better? From Firemen to CEOs, Lehrer shows you how people are taking advantage of this new science to make better television programs, win more football games and improve sales.