SME’s and all things marketing

In my opinion, marketing is one of the vital components of your business strategy, especially if you are a small to medium size enterprise (SME). Never be embarrassed about the scope and scale of your marketing. Remember that in a new business, no one else is going to do it for you! This is also the case when you enter a partnership with business colleagues.

As we move into an autumn of possible austerity measures being implemented by our coalition Government and the potential of redundancy looming over some employees, planning your strategy for a new start up business is going to be important in the balance of 2010 and into 2011.

Someone within the new business specifically has to own the marketing project and be enthusiastic to promote the ethos of the business. Never assume that someone else is dealing with marketing: get it agreed at the outset who is leading the role and get them (or you) to put together the marketing plan for the next three years. Create a specific 12-month plan as well. I suggest limiting the length of the second plan to 12 months at the outset because your marketing will need to be agile in its approach, taking advantage of opportunities as and when they arrive. Using financial planning and independent financial advice as examples, there could be a change in legislation or an upturn in a particular investment market.

What’s the difference between economies of scale and economies of scope, and why is this important to your marketing strategy?

This was an important learning point for me, especially with regard to marketing. When applying economies of scale to marketing you are sending out a single message in bulk, such as a newsletter. This does work. Because of the volume being used, production of your marketing can be cheap and timely.

But what about taking the same message and rearranging it to re-use parts of your message elsewhere to amplify your message? This is an economy of scope. The same newsletter you wrote to take advantage of economies of scale may feature various newsworthy topics in your profession. You will have spent time checking these topics to ensure that they are relevant, compliant and above all, interesting.

Example of an Economy of Scope

* Create a ‘blogspot’ on your website and segment the topics from your existing newsletter. Then turn them into blogs on your website. You will know that Internet listing sites crave new content.
* Record a five-minute discussion about an interesting and topical subject with a colleague, friend or family member. Then podcast this on your website, or if you are more sophisticated, video it and ‘vodcast’ it. Watch your Internet rankings soar.
* Use social networking sites to discuss the same issue, such as Twitter. However, make sure that it is both relevant and compliant for your regulatory authority, if you have one. (my name on Twitter is ‘onlinefinancial’)
* Convert your regular newsletter into an article, and write to the press about the issues you are considering. Choose an issue that you are well qualified to talk about and are able to answer questions about. This may also have the advantage of demonstrating your commitment to the FSA’s Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) initiative which we endorse.

By doing this, you have taken one newsletter and reinvented it in four other formats, giving the same informed message in very different distribution styles, increasing the potential for audience variation and penetration. With a little extra application, it is possible to diversify your message and distribute it into other areas, creating greater scope for your message to be heard by new prospects.

Once you are recognised as an expert in the topic selected, update your thoughts and understanding and repeat the process.

As an example, many television channels have used the same philosophy, broadcasting their standard channel, then a ‘plus 1’ model, as a new separate channel, just one hour forward. They then add a website distributing the same information. This creates three distribution models for the same message. It’s both innovative and cost effective.

Marketing techniques have changed significantly in recent years and I have found that subtlety over ‘in your face’ promotion works best. Many financial services organisations (other than the banks) lack a shop window and many would not want one. When you have got your marketing right, these prospects will find you easily and sales, either fee based or commission driven will be achieved.

Also, the timing of your marketing is vital. Referring back to your year’s sales target, you have correctly divided your sales target up into months to ensure that you maximise peak performance. Your marketing campaign must coordinate with this sales strategy. If you were running a Christmas shop, you probably would not start your company’s peak marketing campaign in July. The same applies to financial services. You might build your campaign up to March/April/May and then regenerate it again to October/November.

We wish you every success with your new business venture.

Extracts from the new book, Sign Here, Here and Here!…Journey of a Financial Adviser ISBN: 978-0-9564325-0-6

Further details on this topic can be found in the new book available at our website, www.signherehereandhere.co.uk or on Amazon here.

Speak to Churchouse Financial Planning Limited (or your independent financial adviser/ IFA). This statement is not individual advice and should not be relied on because each clients circumstances are different.

Keith Churchouse

Director of Churchouse Financial Planning Limited
Churchouse Financial Planning Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority