Objectively Assess, Review and Measure
CityLife BUSINESS
THE POWER OF PR™ with Danae Jones
Objectively Assess, Review and Measure
Danae Jones
: danae@danaejones.com.au
: www.danaejones.com.au
Danae Jones is Managing Director of PR & Marketing firm Danae Jones Consulting Pty Ltd
How are you travelling? No I mean really? How are you and your business travelling right now?
There are some businesses absolutely killing it out there right now and doing extraordinarily well. Then there are the rest. The ones currently flapping in the breeze not knowing where to turn with all the COVID upheaval. And many are struggling to know where to spend their marketing dollars to get an immediate return during this roller coaster time in history. I see you. I see the owner behind the counter rolling up their sleeves and doing whatever they can to deliver in these tough times and fill staff shortages. I see the desperation in your faces when people walk through your stores to get that sale. I see the silent devastation in your face when you can’t convince someone to buy from you and they walk out the door. You see the thing is, you’re not alone – but no-one in business likes to talk about just hanging on by a thread. It’s kind of the forbidden topic for some bizarre reason.
In tough times, spending your marketing budget wisely is critical as the return you get on your investment is the difference between surviving or dying. So trust me, I get it.
So let’s talk frankly about what you need to do. Here are some of my helpful tips to get you through:
1. My first piece of advice is make sure you have a marketing plan. Even if it’s a simple one. You need a plan developed by someone that can look at your business objectively, that isn’t caught up in the daily grind. Fresh eyes and expertise in times like these are worth their weight in gold.
2. Beware of the overnight experts. Believe me, there’s plenty out there. Don’t just engage someone to handle your marketing that’s a good salesperson. Being able to actually deliver on all that talk is essential and you don’t have the time or money to waste on fly by nighters.
You want to engage people with a proven track record. So make sure you do your research and reference checks on them first. Talk to the people that they have supposedly “delivered great results” for and hear it from the horses’ mouths first before making your decision.
3. Stop taking advice on your marketing strategy from sales people that work for media outlets or other providers. They are sales people after all, they might be lovely people that genuinely want to help you, but they are not qualified to give you marketing advice. They rarely have degrees, they are not covered by professional indemnity insurance and they are only ever going to give you bias opinions, not solid, objective and unbiased advice.
4. Reviewing and Measuring your marketing activity results each and every month is essential. If your marketing isn’t achieving results, then you need to make changes. The rule of thumb is, for every $1 spent, you should be receiving three times that in return. This is where a qualified marketing consultant really proves their worth as they aren’t just a one trick pony, they can advise on a multitude of solutions to deliver your results.
5. Consider Public Relations in your marketing mix. PR can have a HUGE positive impact on delivering true bang for your marketing buck. If you don’t have PR as part of your marketing mix, you really are missing out on pure goodness!
6. There are lots of grants available at the moment for businesses that have experienced a drop in revenue and it really does pay to look into what’s available that you might fit the criteria for.
7. Talk to your accountant about what you can afford to spend on your marketing if you are unsure. The reality is that despite money being tight for some, if you stop marketing in these times “because you can’t afford it”, you won’t have a business to come back to.
8. Get creative. Blaze your own trail. Don’t copy the competition. Show people what your point of difference is.
