This is something that’s been on my mind for a few years now. As part of an agency and now as a sole trader I have worked with numerous small and medium businesses from all walks of life, from an adult fiction author, to a schools minibus company and everything in between!
No matter what your business is or does, who you are or who you talk to, there are a few things you ALL need before you can successfully market your business...
1. Values statement
If you have your values clear in your mind, get them down on paper, print them in a beautiful poster, and put them on all your marketing material, because that’s what makes you different – your values. Passing this on to your marketer will help no end when it comes to conveying what you care about and why, how you help your customers and most importantly, the values you share.
If you haven’t got your values clear in your mind, speak to a business coach, read the books, talk to your partner, colleagues, staff, whomever it is that can help you nail those 3 or 4 key values that made you start, and keep you in this business.
2. Mission statement
Some people confuse this and get the angle all wrong. Your mission should outline your goals for the business to better serve your customers; ‘To be the most trusted provider in Oxfordshire’ nails it, but ‘to have x number of new customers by 3 months’ completely misses the mark.
Your mission statement is for your customers to read and begin to understand that you have identified ways of improving or developing to make them happier. This would probably be reviewed annually or following any significant feedback or customer surveying. Anything else is for the 5 year plan and strictly between you, your team and your business coach.
3. A CRM (database)
It doesn’t have to be an all singing, all dancing integrated system, but even if you use a series of spreadsheets to measure your customers’ journeys and record feedback, just do it! It’s an exercise in understanding your customer, being able to reach out to them at the right time, with the right message and if nothing more, it’s a record of your customer type.
Your marketer can use this to segment your customers for truly personalised emails for when you know they need to re-buy, or upgrade. You can invite them to join specific Facebook groups or LinkedIn forums, invite them to specific events or you can even simply say happy birthday. Whatever it looks like, it’s a way of keeping your relationship with your customers fresh.
4. Brand guidelines
This is so often overlooked if you don’t have a brilliant graphic designer! My favourite GD puts it all on a branded memory stick for you, so you can easily share it with your web designer, copywriter or social media manager. It just makes life easier for us when we’re creating documents, leaflets, Canva images and the like, and it makes sure we stay on brand and don’t confuse your audience with an array of styles. It should include colour ways, font styles, placement of logos and HEX/rgb codes in the least.
If you’ve worked with a web designer or graphic designer, ask them if they’ve got your brand guidelines for your records.
5. Social media policy
This one isn’t necessarily obvious, but when you outsource social media it’s worth having something down that outlines the no-no’s. Again it ensures you stay on brand, your tone of voice is more consistent and the wrong accounts aren’t followed or shared.
If you encourage your staff to join in with social media, they definitely need to look at a policy which outlines how they share, and when... It’s a two-pronged policy if you like; for people using social for work, and people using social at work.
6. GDPR agreement (confidentiality)
If you’re turning over trade secrets to an outsourcer, it’s worth having them look at your GDPR policy. At the end of the day your business is the data controller, no matter who is using, so it’s your arse on the line if GDPR is breached. As a data processor, your staff or outsourcer should be paying due diligence to the guidelines and your GDPR policies.
It’s a huge topic, so I’m going to stop there and refer you the Databasix team for further enquiries!
Helpful links from my network
I love a bit of networking and relationship building, so here’s some useful people and companies you might like to look up for help with any of the above.
Business coaches:
Louisa Daubney - Performance coach
John Lewis - Leadership coach
Books:
Start with Why, Simon Sinek – I would’ve put an Amazon link but I want you go buy it from a real shop in your local town!
It’s Not About You, Tom Rath
The Jelly Effect, Andy Bounds
Web design and graphic design: