You know your business better than anyone else. Yet you keep getting calls from agencies pushing their services, selling events, seminars and advertising, some of which can be quite tempting. It can’t do any harm, it will get your name ‘out there’ and you’ve got some money allocated to business development activities.
So, how about tackling marketing in a constructive way? You’re more likely to get a better return on any activity if you just step back and work out what fits and whether it ‘s a good idea, right now.

My first suggestion for any company embarking on any promotional activity, is to map out its universe. You can do it with a white board or a set of post-it notes and a big wall, but the aim is to draw up an image of the world according to your company and its (prospective) customers. You can then see where worlds overlap and where the gaps are…

Who are your customers, what do they read, where are they, which influencers do they look to, where do they look for information, where do these influencers look for information, – how can you get in front of them? Understanding who you need to get to and how to get to them can help you sort the wheat from the chaff. This exercise just might help you clarify which of the many promotional offers might work for you – and which might look impressive but are really just waste of your hard earned money. Oh, and don’t forget the magic words: So What?