If you are wondering what on earth all the blogging fuss is about, have a read through my 3 big reasons for business blogging and let me know if you are convinced.

1. Increase Traffic

Google loves fresh content and therefore rewards it over stuff that’s been hanging around a while.  This means that blogging will move you up the rankings and make it easier for people to find you and visit your site.  And as we all know, the more traffic to your site the more sales you are likely to get. 

“COMPANIES THAT BLOG 15 OR MORE TIMES PER MONTH GET 5X MORE TRAFFIC THAN COMPANIES THAT DON’T BLOG”*

2. Build Relationships

As you already know people tend to buy products and services from businesses they know and trust.  A regular blog is a great way to engage, Inform and entertain your clients and prospects about what you can offer and how you can help them.  In this social age people like to feel involved, so by encouraging readers to comment and interact with your blog you help them to feel part of the conversation. Reader who come to feel like they know you, begin to develop a loyalty to your brand and are far more likely to buy from you.

“B2B COMPANIES THAT BLOG ONLY 1-2X/MONTH GENERATE

70% MORE LEADS THAN THOSE WHO DON’T BLOG“*

3. Expert Status

In today’s competitive world we all know how important it is to stand out from your competition. Using your blog as a platform to showcase your expertise is a great way to establish yourself as a specialist in your field and reinforce the fact that you really know your stuff.  Don’t forget the likeability aspect of blogging though and encourage readers to interact and have their say.  Regularly updating your blog (at least once a week) with content that is relevant and useful to your audience means that you will soon become their go-to resource for your specific area of business. 

“AN AVERAGE COMPANY WILL SEE A 45% GROWTHIN TRAFFIC

WHEN INCREASING TOTAL BLOG ARTICLES FROM 11- 20 TO 21-50 ARTICLES.”

 These are just a few reasons that Blogging really is worth it.  Let me know your thoughts and if you haven’t already, get blogging!

Thanks Sarah 

*Source; Hubspot Benchmarking Report

Lonely snowmen, stressed out mums, celebrity chefs and break dancing kids, yep the fight to become the Christmas number 1 isn’t reserved for the music charts anymore.  

As retailer’s efforts to tug at our heart strings, to make us nod knowingly or laugh out loud becomes as much a part of Christmas as the turkey itself which ad is your favourite to win and why?

In an attempt to connect with consumers in tough economic times, by lifting spirits and showing us that they understand us, glitz and glamour is, this year, being replaced instead with family and feelings.  And with a distinct lack of celebrity and a big dollop of heart warming, reality style Christmas, it all feels very down to earth. 

For me the top of the scoreboard ads, in no particular order, have to be Asda, controversial I know, and John Lewis, predictable I guess but always a winner.

Yes, despite that fact that Asda has come in for a bit of a bad rap, about their ad being sexist, to the point where it is being investigated by the ad standards agency, I actually really like it.  It makes me laugh and surely on some level we can all identify with it, even if we are thinking of our own parents or grandparents.  I think the highlight for me is when the mum sits to eat dinner on the Peter Kay ‘emergency chair.’ Come on people lighten up, they are taking it to the extreme for comedy value.  When did we all get so touchy and over sensitive? Why not take it in the spirit it’s meant and have a laugh, I dare you! The old saying that laughter is the best medicine is so true, especially at Christmas.  So well done Asda!

And so to John Lewis, whose ads manage to create a battle between broadcasters over who gets first showing.  And whose ads even earn themselves trailers to advertise the advert! Surely we must applaud such genius.  After last year’s, tear inducing, ‘for gifts you can’t wait to give’ ad I had high expectations.  And in my opinion they certainly haven’t disappointed us with ‘The Journey’ and its ‘give a little more love this Christmas’ strap line. This Raymond Briggs inspired story, for with its distinct beginning, middle and end, a story is what it is, is so beautiful and simple in its message.  And although clearly an expensive campaign it is understated and sincere, not that we would expect anything less from this well known brand.  I love the way it takes us back to the essential ingredients of effort and love for the perfect gift, rather than size, quantity or a big price tag. It tugs at your heart without a hint of cheese, so bravo JL. 

Online research, by Vision Critical, however, suggests that John Lewis, whilst scoring highly on the emotional connection, did not win out in converting viewers into buyers. Maybe this is because, whilst it has oodles of aaaah factor, the lack of real life ‘christmasiness’ (my word and I like it) means that it becomes more like a film that you watch, enjoy, appreciate but do not feel the need to act on?  I’ll leave that one with you.

 Other contenders, for me, are Waitrose and Tesco.  Waitrose, although still using their celeb chefs, offers us a completely paired down affair, simply telling us that instead of a flashy ad they are instead giving £1 million to good causes. Simple and so clever!  Aren’t we all left thinking how much is wasted on advertising and how great Waitrose is for shunning this tradition? Don’t we all want to spend our money with them because they are so very charitable?

And finally Tesco, who again adopting the Christmas is family route, give us a series of mini films, each one depicting a very typical Christmas and focusing on different members of the family.  From mum buying a Furby, at Tesco of course, to the teenage son with the cracker hat and Granddad playing on the Wii, they capture the spirit of family Christmas very well.

The reason I instantly think of these ads is that they connect with me.  I am moved by them on an emotional level which means that they will stay with me and my brain won’t chuck them out with this year’s wrapping.  On this point I have just watched the John Lewis ‘Always a Woman’ campaign and the, award winning, Proctor and Gamble ‘Best Job’ ad again.  And although not Christmas ads, because they always give me watery eye syndrome, I wanted to give them a mention.

 So, which ads have won your heart this Christmas? And, because they might not be one and the same, which ones have converted you from viewer to shopper?

Anyway better dash, I’ve got to wrap the presents, write the cards, decorate the house, make the mince pies, feed the reindeers, and knit the stockings, light the fire and sit on my very own emergency chair! 

Ho Ho Ho and a merry Christmas to you, Sarah

I am loving the recent news story, and classic sun headline ‘Willie Wager’, about Richard Branson’s bet with British Airways.  It reflects the personality of the two brands oh so well.  On one hand we have the traditional corporate figure of Willie Walsh, with his serious pinstripe suit to go with his serious predictions for the downfall of Virgin.  Cue evil laugh. And on the other we have the smiley Mr Branson in his laid back linen number, on his Caribbean Island, basically saying bring it on Willie, let’s have some fun with this. 

Virgin v British Airways – The Big Bet

The bet from the Caribbean, that BA pay £1 million to Virgin staff, if Virgin is still around in 5 years or vice a versa comes following Mr Walsh’s claims that, if Virgin goes ahead with the Delta airlines joint venture, the Virgin name will be ditched.  Richard Branson’s ‘put your money where your mouth is’ way of completely dismissing the predictions is in itself a great bit of marketing and is the kind of response we expect from the less conventional business magnate.

Of course should Mr Walsh reply with the light heartedness, typical of the Virgin brand, it would immediately seem at odds with the stiff upper lip and bowler hat personality of BA.  That isn’t to say that one is right and the other is wrong, just that they both have a very definite voice which we, as consumers, associate with each airline and which they must carry through in all communications.

 Know your business personality

The individual personality of each corporation can be seen right from the visual branding through to all communications and staff behaviour. Visually British Airways is classic and refined and, I have to admit, when you look at a row of BA planes you do get a certain feeling of patriotism.  The Virgin brand on the other hand is a lot more vibrant, loose and fun.  Fly on a BA plane and, in my opinion, you really don’t get much in the way of personality; it’s all very just so. With Virgin, however, you even get little jokes in the flight and safety briefing and the vibrancy is carried through to the way you are looked after on board and the way all Virgin crew communicate.  Having said that it would seem wrong if BA were to start cracking jokes during their safety briefing, just as it would if Virgin were to suddenly take a far more serious approach.  As consumers we like to know what to expect, we don’t generally like surprises.  So what a business promises with its brand visuals and communications, we expect to receive.  And when we don’t we fall out of love with them and go elsewhere.

A great brand begins on the inside

It is, therefore, essential to define what your brand is, what it stands for, where it sits in the market and who it is targeted at before you start any outward marketing.  A good and very simple exercise we ask clients to do is to answer the question ‘If you were a supermarket what supermarket would you be, and why?’  You can also take this further and align yourself to a magazine, newspaper, brand of car etc.  It helps you to develop a clear picture of the personality you want to portray.  Are you fun and vibrant like Virgin or Classic and dependable like British Airways? Once you have decided all this you must now make sure that you carry it through in all your branding to the outside.  Make sure your staff fully understands the personality of your brand and how to reflect this in their behaviour and communication with all your clients. 

Review your brand and respond to the market

And it doesn’t stop there.  You must constantly review your brand.  Ask yourself how is it being received, have we changed as an organisation? Does my branding and communication still reflect the business as it is today? Has the market changed and are we reacting to this? 

British Airways is a good example of a brand that was falling behind the competition in terms of brand perception.  A year ago, according to YouGov’s BrandIndex, it was positioned only 21st in a chart of 25 aviation brands.  A year later, thanks to the ‘To fly, to serve’ campaign and the campaigns that supported the 2012 sponsorship it is now rated as 2nd only to Virgin.  I guess the ‘wishful thinking’ that Mr Branson assigns to Walsh’s recent claims will hit a nerve!

The BA adverts were not a complete move away from the brand as we all know it, but rather than focussing on destinations and aircraft, as many airlines continue to do, they focused on customer service.  By bringing it back to the customer, something Virgin do very well, they are experiencing far better buy in from consumers. 

Not that I am suggesting for one minute that you run out and place a load of adverts, but just as British Airways did, you need to protect the future success of your brand.  And when a change is needed you need to recognise it and respond.

So, Willie or Won’t he?

So as Willie wriggles his way out of accepting the bet laid down in front of him, who is your money on? 

Thanks for reading and happy branding, Sarah

PS; For me it’s Branson all the way, but you probably guessed that already!

Are all your staff brand ambassadors?

Your brand is much more than your lovely logo, compelling website and persuasive ads. 

Whilst these are all important elements of a professional and well presented business, they are the shop window to your product or service.  Once customers step through the door your staff then take on the role of brand representation.

You can have the most memorable logo in the world but if the first person that a client comes in to contact with is grumpy or unhelpful it is this that will be imprinted on their mind.  Highly unlikely are they to dash out and proclaim ‘Well she wasn’t that helpful, but that’s ok because they look really professional, you really should be using them.’

As a team we recently booked a hotel for an away day.  The hotel itself was very nice, the grounds were beautiful and the food was lovely.  Some of the staff were very helpful and professional, but not all.  Most significantly it was the receptionist who left the greatest impression on us.  Unfortunately this was not because she was welcoming, friendly and professional, pre requisites for such a front of house position you would think, but for her real lack of customer service.  She was unfriendly, didn’t make eye contact, and I would go far as to say she was rude and unpleasant.  Ok, deep breath, I think you get the picture.  The other aspect of our booking that was disappointing was the lack of a follow up email.  The invoice made it without a problem, but nothing to check that we had a good stay.  And given that the receptionist didn’t ask this question either you can’t help thinking that this is unimportant to them, again this seems at odds with the service industry.

The result was that we arrived think how nice at all was and left feeling that in this case beauty really was only skin deep.  

I have talked before about keeping all your shop windows; website, logo, facebook page, twitter page and brochure shiny and professional and this is the next step.  You must make sure that this exterior has substance, that your staff are as shiny and professional as your logo.  By this I don’t mean they should all pop off to have their teeth whitened, but that they let the client know that it is all about them and that they communicate your business consistently and professionally.

A great exercise is to ask every member of your staff to sell your business to you.  How many of them will say the same thing?  It is an experiment worth trying and I would hazard a guess that you will get a variety of responses and possibly some blank looks. If this is the case then spending some time to definine your overarching sales message with your staff would be highly beneficial.   By engaging your team in the shaping of your message you are far more likely to get buy in, rather than sending a management email that tells them what to say and how to say it.  This will, most likely, cause a Tsunami of grumbling and create the opposite effect.  Another exercise is to find out  how your phones  are being answered.  Is the response always professional and consistent, regardless of who answers the call? These are just a couple of small things to start you off on your journey to creating brand ambassadors of your staff.  

Please don’t risk leaving your clients feeling cheated by your fake tan.  Instead think of your business like the very best hotel.  You want to entice them through the front door with your fabulous branding, and then woo them with such fabulous customer service, from all members of staff, that they just keep coming back for more.  Adopt this approach, whatever sector you are in, and you really will have regular bookers who in turn become brand ambassadors too.

That’s all, for 3 weeks, folks, off for some serious customer service, stateside!

Have a nice day, Sarah

As someone who wants a Chelsea show garden but who also doesn’t know the first thing about plants I definitely need some help putting my, currently bare, garden together.  However as I look around my local garden centres I can’t help thinking that they really are missing a trick in terms of selling to people like me, of whom I am sure there are many.  I wander around pulling out plants, reading the labels and trying to pull together the right combination of height, spread, evergreen, deciduous whilst considering whether they need full sun, partial sun, full shade, clay soil and all the other planting  considerations and end up getting completely confused, putting them all back and going home empty handed.

However the result could have been far different, more expensive for me and of course a profitable one for the garden centre.  Think about it, they have just let the perfect customer leave empty handed.  Even though I have a bare garden, I am impatient to get it filled, I have drooled over Chelsea show gardens and I am ready to spend, I don’t.

So what could they do differently to help their sales figures? Quite simply they need to sell me the garden not the individual plants.  They need to show me how I can have an instant Andy Sturgeon style planting scheme to take home right now.  If only they had mini gardens planted up with different themes such as cottage garden, tropical garden, prairie style garden, formal garden etc I could see what plants work together and then whiz round, grab them, PAY, go and plant.  They also watched me endlessly picking up plants, scanning the information, placing them next to each other and clearly looking perplexed and yet at no time was I offered any help.  If they had come over and offered a chargeable planting scheme service where they would come out o my home, see the look I wanted to achieve and then provide me with a list of plants and where to plant them I would have booked on the spot. And even if I then went elsewhere for the plants, they had my cash for the service rather than nothing at all.

So with all this garden garbling what I am really trying to say is that you need to make it easy for people to see the results of buying your product or service. We are all lazy and we want things quickly and easily.  If you have done your job well people will want your product or service even if they don’t need it.  Sell the meals not the ingredients, sell winning the race not the trainers and sell the increase in sales not the marketing process. 

I need plants and I really want my Chelsea garden, so sell me the garden and I will happily spend a small fortune, smile on face and spade in hand!

So don’t let your prospects leave empty handed, get creative and who knows you might just win ‘Best in Show.’

Happy Selling

Sarah

P.S. Anyone know anything about plants?

Moving on from my last post about listening I thought it made sense to talk about the type of questions you should be asking.  Because of course in order to engage and listen you are a bit stuffed without the questions bit.  You need to be in control of your sale, it needs a structure and you need to lead up to the conclusion you want in a natural and non double glazing way.

The right questions are those that build rapport and trust, provide you with the information you need and then qualify this information, so that you can offer the right service or product at the right price and within expected timescales, and then closes the sale.

Ask the right questions and listen to the answers and your offer will be hard to turn down. 

Why? Because your offer is based on what your prospect actually needs and wants rather than what you think they need.  The outcome is not reliant on them picking through a mountain of facts to discover the parts that relate to them. 

Because you have bothered to find out that little bit more you have sold in on the features and benefits that interest them.  And because you have made this a personal service, you have developed a rapport with your prospect, they trust you and, most importantly, they like you. 

Don’t forget that people buy people, it is rarely about price, and if they don’t like you then chances are they will decide not to like what you are selling too.

The first rule of questioning is to listen and not to prompt, lead or interrupt the answer.  Secondly you should use both open ended and closed questions at the right time. 

Open questions are those that require more than a yes or no answer, they allow your customer to talk and you to gather valuable information to inform your sale.  Closed questions are designed to gain a definitive answer from your prospect with no real room for expansion or deviation.  One is not exclusively better than the other; it is when you use them that are the secret to great questioning. 

To start your discussion with a closed question is to give yourself a 50/50 chance of the answer you want. Begin with an open question and you are far more likely to initiate a discussion.  For example ‘Can I help you?’ versus ‘How can I help you?’ The first is a yes or no option where as the latter requires an explanation of what they are looking for or what help they need; you simply get more information to act on. So to start your sales conversation using open questions is best.

Once you have established what they are looking for you then need to develop their trust and build that all important rapport.  A great way to do this is to tap into what their feelings are on their needs, what problems they need to overcome to gain an understanding of what motivates them. ‘Do you find xyz a problem?’ versus ‘What kinds of challenges are you facing?’ Again the open question wins out.

The next step is information gathering and qualifying.  Here you want to find out as much as possible from your customer about the problems that you can solve with your product or service, the needs and desires that you can fulfill with your sale and as much detail about how they see things working so that you can, as much as possible, adopt this approach and demonstrate that you share their vision of what they are really looking for.  And yes you have probably already guessed that our old friends the open questions work best here too.

 The final stage of your sales pitch is the all important closing. You have gathered all your information, qualified things such as timescales, budget and approach and the client feels they can trust you.  You are now ready to pop their signature on the dotted line.  And this is where your closed questions are put to good use.  ‘How many products are you ordering? ‘‘On what day would you like these delivered?’ ‘How many days per month do you need us?’ etc.  If you have done everything else right then by this stage the customer has already touched on this with you, and will quickly be able to answer.

Other times that closed questions are useful are when you want to steer the conversation in a different direction ‘Ok I think we have enough information about abc, can we move on to xyz’ or when you need to force a decision between different options ‘We discussed both the price per project approach and the retainer, which one do you think would suit you best?

By now, hopefully, your prospect will have become a customer.  And, providing that you deliver what you promise, they love you so much they will keep coming back.  But please please don’t let poor service destroy a great sale. Do not I beg you, do not over promise and under deliver.  And remember it’s less Gestapo, more understanding and knowledgeable friend.

Happy questioning

I am off to home to be questioned Gestapo style by two under 10s! Earmuffs at the ready!

Sarah

It might sound obvious but so many people sell through talking at the customer.  They bombard us with the features and benefits of a product without taking any time to find out what you are actually looking for, what you need or what is driving your purchase.  They leave you feeling sold at and with that ‘not today feeling.’

Picture yourself for a moment as the sales person.  You have learnt all the key selling points of your service or product parrot fashion, you could list the benefits in your sleep and you are desperate to tell your prospective client everything you possibly can to persuade them that they need what you are selling. 

And so off you go.  You fire away, quite literally. You pepper them with an attack of the benefits and only come up for air when your arsenal of selling points is exhausted.  You sit back with a big grin, pen and dotted line in hand.  Surely they will be mesmerized by just how great your product is and be desperate to grab the pen out of your hand to personalise that all important dotted line and claim their prize. 

Instead what you are faced with are those cartoon eyes spiralling with confusion as they attempt to process any of what you have just said.  And why is it that, even though, you have spent the last 20 minutes emptying your brain of fantastic facts and figures, that only a three year old would fail to be impressed by, your customer remains unconvinced?

Simple, it’s because only a very small portion of your in depth information actually related to what this customer needs.  You might be selling the same product or service everyday but each customer is unique.  Their needs and drivers will vary from the next persons and so should your pitch.  But of course you weren’t to know that as you never actually asked.  You just presumed. You didn’t really involve the customer in the sales process and instead made it about you, about your sale and not about them.

From a customer’s perspective you really want to feel that the sales person understands what it is you need, what you want and also what you don’t want from the product or service.  Only then can they really offer you a solution that is right for you.  Only with this information do you feel that they are offering a valuable service and that they are helping you rather than just selling to you.  And this is the real secret to great sales.

Asking the right questions is an important element of this.  Use good questioning to uncover the problems and issues, needs and desires together with the expectations of each prospect and then use this information to offer your irresistible solution.  The big must however is the listening part.  If you have truly listened then you should respond based on what you hear.  Questions are useless if you don’t actually bother to hear the answers.  People can easily tell if you are feigning interest and this is a big turn off, one that is guaranteed to lose you the sale.

So if you think you or any of your team is guilty of talking without listening or selling without questioning the time to act is now.

Start listening and offer a service not just a product.

Any comments? I am all ears!   Sarah

Think about the number of shop windows to our businesses we all have these days.  It goes much further than the window on the high street or the reception area to your office.  And it doesn’t matter whether your window is accessed via a busy main street, or a quieter side road, people are still looking in and making decisions based on it.

Shop windows include your website, brochure, flyers, Twitter, facebook, LinkedIn and I am sure you could think of others if you tried.  Each window gives an important first impression to your next new customer.  And if you want the customers who are peering through the windows to actually knock on your door, and I am sure you do, the importance of making sure your glass is smear free, your curtains are neatly pressed and the cobwebs are all removed is crucial.

However many shop windows you have open you must make sure they are all representing your business in the best possible way.  This includes making sure that your branding and message are consistent and professional, that messages left at all windows are replied to within reasonable timescales and that everything is up to date and relevant to your business now, and that means today, not 1 year ago when that particular window was put in.

This includes making sure that your blog is kept up to date with regular postings (at least once a week) and this is something that we are guilty of not doing for ourselves because we are too busy writing for clients.  It also means tweeting and updating facebook daily with the right messages and on branded pages.  It means reviewing your website yearly, along with brochures and other marketing collateral.  And so the list continues.

You might find that your windows need a really good spring clean, you might decide to task someone from your business with a window or two each, or choose to reduce your windows and leave only those that you really have the time to maintain.  Whichever you choose the important thing is that you don’t simply leave them sitting there waiting to attract business with paint that is starting to peel and a layer of dust building. 

Yes in an ideal world you would have all the windows open wide to shout about your business from as many avenues as possible.  But this only works when you have the time for maintenance.  Put simply quality better than quantity. 

So what are you waiting for….get your tickling stick out and dust the cobwebs off your panes!

Wishing you shiny marketing success and happy cleaning

Sarah

With the London Olympics about to leap in to action this summer I think it is safe to say that the traffic on our roads will not be moving as fast as the athletes.  And it is highly likely that most of us haven’t dedicated even one training session to thinking about how this might affect our businesses. 

Ok so there isn’t a gold medal in the balance, but wouldn’t you rather cross the delivery line on time and to a cheer, rather than a boo from your customers?

Well it just so happens that we can help.  Our client CBVC who are vehicle and fleet management experts have put together a document (please follow the link below) with a few top tips which will help you to plan your business travel amid all the lycra. 

Hope this helps!

Guide to 2012 OLYMPICS

Happy Travels Olympians

Sarah

Start 2 Finish is delighted to be supporting the Meningitis Trust. And to be working with them to raise funds and offer any strategic help that we can to increase their profile.

The decision to support the Meningitis Trust was made by Steve, one of our Directors who at the age of 4 had bacterial meningitis and was extremely lucky to survive, especially without any after-effects.  It was the Pride of Britain Awards that really prompted Steve to forge links with the Trust.  He was touched by a story about a family who the Trust had been working with and decided there and then that he wanted to help.

Steve has since met with Matt Croxall from the Trust to talk about raising funds.  And we will also be looking at the many ways that we can apply our knowledge and resources to help them to market themselves in this competitive market.

Marketing for charities certainly raises a number of key challenges which need to be acknowledged and overcome. These include budget restraints, differentiation and an extremely wide audience

Budget restraints is a key influence on how charities are able to promote themselves and places a restriction on the different marketing avenues that are open to them. In order to raise their profile on a national level it would be hugely advantageous to execute a comprehensive campaign to include a range of television and radio commercials and really get into people’s homes and minds.  This would of course cost a small fortune and for this reason there would certainly be objections from supporters and beneficiaries.  It is a bit of a vicious circle as by raising the profile you will experience a direct impact on voluntary donations and an increase in income.  However the initial outlay involved is also crucial to the work that the charity does to improve the lives of the people they are supporting. For example one area of the Meningitis Trusts work is the offer of financial grants to survivors of meningitis and their families.  These are for crucial things such as wheelchairs, respite care, home adaptations, and so much more.  And as the ongoing support of Meningitis survivors is central to the Charities work it is difficult to argue that this money would be better spent elsewhere. To successfully manage this balancing act it is crucial that all marketing is well thought through and that any proposed spend can demonstrate how it will positively impact upon the profile of the charity, and  the care of those people it is set up to help.

Differentiating yourself from the competition is crucial with any successful marketing campaign.  People need not only to know what you do, but more importantly why they should use you rather than other people claiming to offer the same product or service. And the question ‘how will you help me?’ is never more important than with a charity. After all it is ‘help’ that is central to the work of every charity. 

This can become more problematic when there are a number of charities for the same cause.  The Meningitis Trust must clearly communicate how they are different from two other Meningitis charities.  This isn’t simply an issue of income, but more a desire to ensure that the people that need their help get it.  Harriet Penning, Communications Manager for the Trust explains ‘…the general public and even some of our supporters are confused as to what each charity does.  Some think that we are just one big charity, so it is crucial for us to differentiate ourselves.  We really don’t want people who need our support to decide against asking for help because they are unsure as to what we do and can’t find out who can help them.’

The issue of marketing yourself to a wide audience is also a challenging one.  The most successful marketing campaign talks directly to the intended audience, and taps into the things that they need, things that will motivate them to say yes please I want to work with you.  Of course when you are marketing a charity such as the Meningitis Trust your audience is everyone as Meningitis can affect anyone, at any time of their life.  To be effective your message will need to be tailored and your audiences separated.  For instance what the Trust need to communicate to a health professional or other professional body will differ from your message to a meningitis survivor and their family; will be different for people who have not had meningitis, and again from those people who are also potential supporters like us.  Alongside these there will also be consistent key messages that need to be communicated to everyone.  So there is certainly a lot of work to be done here, and all on a restricted budget.  

So how is the Meningitis Trust overcoming these significant challenges so that they can continue to help people rebuild their lives and take control again?

Holding charity status means that the Meningitis Trust can pitch for pro-bono opportunities.  ‘Last year we were lucky enough to pitch for and win £50,000 worth of support from a London PR agency.  This was a huge deal to us as we were able to launch a national campaign in Parliament, with long-term reach that we are continuing to build upon to date.’ Says Harriet

In addition the Trust has successfully incorporated as many free alternatives to advertising through PR, and digital and social media as possible. And with a huge amount of growth identified in these areas they have invested in expanding the Digital Team within the charity. Twitter and facebook are providing excellent mediums for interaction, raising profile, and brand awareness.  With many of the charities supporters and beneficiaries very active on these platforms this is the perfect place for them to interact and spread the word. 

Whilst it is certainly true that hurdles such as these do make life more challenging for charities, they can also be seen as a positive.  What I mean by this is that by the nature of what they do a charity is forced to plan every piece of marketing.  And each campaign must be well thought through in order for it to be as effective as possible and therefore justifiable.  In order to do so there must be clear objectives and a structure to what is being carried out, which is something that many don’t do and as a result campaigns fail.  When budgets are tight planning is key to marketing success, together with keeping up to date with the latest free opportunities out there and maximising these with clearly targeted messages that engage the audience.

The oldest Meningitis Charity in the world, the Meningitis Trust is responsible for not only raising awareness of the symptoms, treatment, and effects of Meningitis but plays a wonderful and invaluable role offering free help, support and advice to families and individuals who have survived the illness. The Trust is 100% reliant on voluntary donations to carry out its important work so you can see the importance of getting the messages out to as many people like you as possible. 

We are really excited to be a part of the Trusts important work and look forward to making a significant contribution to their cause from now on.

Any inspiring ideas for fundraising please let me know!

Thanks Sarah