I met the owner of a service business last week, t/o c£5m, who had built his successful business up over 20 years, without any marketing at all. That’s not particularly unusual and nor is what followed in the meeting between Steve, the owner, and me.
An existing client referred me. Steve had seen the marketing coming out from my client’s business and wanted to meet the person who was doing it. Steve’s requirement was very simple. He told me that he wanted ‘marketing peace of mind’. He wanted to know the marketing of his business was being taken care of by a safe pair of hands without him needing to be involved day-to-day.
What does peace of mind mean?
Steve’s business has been built on reputation and word-of-mouth recommendations. There has never been any demand generation marketing, and nor was there an appetite for any going forwards. The nagging doubt (and it was a growing nag), was that when Steve’s business was recommended, what impression was being given out to people who were ‘looking them up’? Steve’s sense was that the business had become so busy fulfilling orders, keeping customers happy, and meeting deadlines, that no one was stopping to think what the business looked like to an outsider peering in.
We call it the shop window effect
In a business where reputation is key to winning new work, it’s impossible to control when potential new customers might be running the rule over you. Because of this, the presentation of your online ‘shop window’ needs to be fresh and relevant. The shop window represents the key online assets of the business: Website (and the news and people sections in particular) LinkedIn profiles of key team members Facebook Page Google My Business Most often a new customer is checking you out to seek validation for the recommendation they have been given. Does the impression of the business that’s been mentioned to me match what I am seeing when I look it up for myself? If the answer is yes, great I will make contact and things can progress. If there is a mis-match, then it’s likely I won’t proceed, BUT I won’t choose to tell anybody that has been my decision.
What’s the key to keeping the shop window attractive?
I get asked a lot of the time how much updating should we do of our website and our social media channels to keep them relevant? The answer is: Enough to create the impression of a busy business with authentic people providing a great service. A sensible ‘rule of thumb’ is to comment only when you have something valuable to share. It’s possible with a content marketing plan to generate lots of genuine comment opportunities. However, your brand will be devalued if you make a noise online just for the sake of it.
Will this article appeal to every business owner?
Absolutely not. This is for the business owner who doesn’t to be all over the marketing detail, and wants someone to take care of it for him/her. The peace of mind comes from knowing that whenever someone chooses to ‘check-out’ their business, they will find an up to date, relevant, professional and appealing amount of content that provides all of the validation needed so that the new customer takes the next step and makes contact.
Interested in a marketing service for peace of mind
If this article resonates with you, then do reach out and I’d be delighted to go into a little more detail. Email nick@sixthsensemarketing.co.uk or call: 01252 213131.
