Hello holiday season! Merry Christmas 2018.
Can you believe another year has almost come to an end? It was all hands on deck for 2018, with a continued expansion of our team, new clients and the move to a new office space. So, as we lead up to the holiday season, our team has been reflecting on the year that was and everything we’ve learnt along the way.
2018 was a big year for fundraising and charity collaborations. We joined forces with our good friends, Property Solutions 101, and a range of other local business to participate in the #FastestFlatpackBuild competition. Teams of two from each organisation were tasked with assembling a box of flatpack furniture, in a race to finish. The comp was the annual “all-in” PS101 Challenge, with our very own Tarin and Kylie representing team TMGP and Holly acting as the MC for the event.. The day raised a lot of awareness for the chosen charity, Got Your Back Sista, a local group dedicated to helping women and children live independently after escaping the trauma of domestic violence.
Another great initiative we were involved in was the Bean Counters Ball. The annual fundraiser, supporting youth and education in the Hunter region, went off fabulously and got a lot of positive feedback from happy guests. With supporting charity partners, Hunter TAFE Foundation and Samaritans, the event raised an impressive $27,000.
After seeing the great work Samaritans do, we decided to donate to their Merry Christmas “Shout Lunch” initiative as well. They aim to raise $5,000 to give the less fortunate an opportunity to celebrate inclusion, community and the festive season with a Merry Christmas lunch. There is still time for you to get involved so we encourage you to make a donation from your business too.
With so much on, it’s easy to forgot we also showed our support for Movember, Beyond Blue, Dry July, Mark Hughes Foundation, Asthma Australia, R U OK? Day and Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service during 2019
To say thanks for the wonderful year, our team has put together this quick Merry Christmas message for all our fantastic clients and friends.
If you follow us on social media, you can check out everything we’ve done this year, and the things we’ve learnt along the way. To wrap 2018 up, our team have put together their top marketing tips!
Holly’s tip concerned content.
“Let’s say you got some coverage from local media. That’s great but you shouldn’t stop there. You should post the content in as many places as possible to gain the most exposure. You can put it in a blog post, a video, emails and on social media.”
Creating new content is great, but it isn’t enough if you don’t leverage it. You could have the best blog in the world, but there’s a chance a huge section of your target market won’t see it if you don’t make the most of it. Always remember you can push your content in a variety of ways!
Kylie’s tip flows on from Holly’s leverage advice.
She says it’s important to integrate your marketing plan.
“One of the key things we consider is the client’s marketing plan. We want to make sure it’s integrated, nothing standing out on its own. It should all be brought together to maximize your success.”
Content standing in isolation is likely to fail, so Kylie suggests pulling it all together and keeping track of it in your plan. When onboarding a new client, we always begin with a plan – that document follows the organisation’s journey and becomes more detailed as time goes on and more content is created. Our whole consulting process wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for such planning.
Blythe’s top tip is considering your target market.
“Are you sure on who your target market is? Once you know who you’re talking to and what you want to say, your marketing will make much more sense.”
Like Blythe points out, if you aren’t clear on who your target audience is, it’s difficult to create a plan that integrates everything (like Kylie suggest). In turn, this makes it harder to market your business successfully. Finding your target is one of the first steps in planning an organisation’s marketing approach – and don’t worry, we have plenty of guidelines and resources to help you out!
Kelly advises to consider partnerships.
“Partnerships are important. It’s a two-way street and all collaborations should align with your brand and marketing plan.”
Partnerships allow you to network with relevant businesses and they can help your business gain some invaluable exposure – if leveraged correctly. It’s all well and good to collaborate with an influencer or celebrity, for example, to try to get your brand out there. However, you can’t just set up the partnership and let it run its course – Kelly suggests long-term goals with short term action. Post to social media, update your website and consider advertising your new collaboration to drive traffic, get people talking about the partnership and create more brand awareness.
Tarin’s top tip has to do with websites.
“It’s your hub, the customer’s initial online impression of you – the first thing they see when they Google your business. You can control the design and functionality to best suit your organisation and team. Use your website!”
As Tarin points out, your website is exactly that; yours. You’re in control of what’s posted, how it looks, the places certain links take the visitor to, everything! “Use your website” – this includes regularly updating it. There’s no point in letting a great website sit online, untouched, until it becomes out-of-date and boring. Search engines will reward you for looking after your website, and you’re more likely to have visitors see all the exciting things your business has been doing recently.
Maddie’s suggests getting on top of your social media.
“Social media is great, but only if you do it right. You need to ensure your content is part of your marketing plan, otherwise you’re just posting things for the sake of it. Make sure all of your posts have a purpose and a target audience, while staying on-brand.”
When done well, and used with your marketing plan in mind, social media can bring your business great success. Like Blythe, Maddie knows the importance of your target audience. She suggests your posts have a purpose and the means to reach that audience. Here at The Marketing GP, we also try to post content that has a call to action. So, rather than “posting things for the sake of it”, you can ask your followers to check out a link, like an image, share your content and more!
And finally, my top tip – get involved.
Say yes to the opportunities you’re faced with! If you can attend a local event or meet new people, it’s great for you, personally, and can be used to further promote the business. Networking events, charity fundraisers and local experiences are just some of the options available to you. If you keep putting your business out there, you gain more exposure and make great new contacts. You don’t want to be the brand nobody’s ever heard of (or the team member who misses out on the fun Merry Christmas video) simply because you didn’t make the most of the opportunity!
We hope these tips helped you set some goals for 2019. A very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!
