Services

The Marketing Services provided by The Marketing Gym Ltd:

Marketing Strategy That Packs a Punch!

Most small-business owners think that marketing strategy is either a necessary evil or is to be avoided at all costs because it spells jargon not action!  The truth is that a marketing strategy, in the form of a succinct action driven plan, is one of the most powerful things that you can do to set your business firmly on the road to increased profits.

A great marketing strategy should not take any more than two days to complete.

It should be collaborative and the finished document should comprise simple headings with bullet points that lead to action.

These headings include: what your basic marketing objectives are for the next year, the target audiences that you want to engage with, where we find these groups, what your positioning statement is and a summary of what we need to know about competitors.

We then top and tail this with an in-depth look at your products and services and whether they are exactly what your marketplace needs or we make changes, for example introducing new income streams in the form of products and services that are in your head but yet to be translated into business.

The general idea is that when we have shaped your marketing strategy, we develop your Marketing Toolkit in the form of a snappy tactical marketing plan that will successfully lead us to your target audiences.


Tactical Marketing Planning

This is often regarded as the most exciting part of the marketing planning process because it’s time to roll up our sleeves, get creative and map out the mix of marketing activities that we are going to use to grab the attention of our target audiences and motivate them to want to do business with us.

It's not simply a case of creating a list with headings that include for example direct mail, website promotion, networking and so on.

It’s really about crafting powerful, attention grabbing messages and building targeted campaigns that identify the most powerful and effective ways we can communicate with your target audiences.

We start by asking - When are we going to start these activities? Of what will each activity comprise? How much will it cost us? What is a realistic response to aim for ? And over what period of time will each campaign run?

Working together, a tactical marketing plan should take no more than one full day to complete, perhaps with a little time added for some research.

Your tactical marketing plan is a powerful antidote to ‘shoot from the hip marketing’, where you make spur of the moment decisions (usually buying advertising space on a fairly random basis) with your tactical marketing plan we identify, we get incredibly creative, we plan and we implement… it's usually at the implementation stage that we bring in other partners including design and print.


Powerful Award-Winning Copywriting

It's often the case that when it comes to your marketing communications, you've got a good idea of what you want to say, but translating this into words that have impact and that lead to sales, is another matter altogether.  Sometimes, the end result is a hastily scrambled document with clumsy paragraphs that really don't paint a great picture of your business.

With great copy, people really do get your message quickly and easily.  What's more if you have targeted them correctly, the door is opened to sales.

With poorly written copy, people simply notice your spelling mistakes and punctuation errors.  Your message is lost, you've undersold yourself and your hot prospect moves on.

Powerful and compelling marketing communications have a huge impact on your bottom line.  They also build a great impression of your business; your values and vision and ultimately, they place your brand head and shoulders above your competitors.  Whether you are a home-based business just starting out or an established business, don't overlook the importance of professionally written copy. 

Examples of copywriting projects include:

Sales letters, online and offline press releases, adverts, advertorials, magazine articles and interviews, teaser campaigns, newsletters and websites.


Marketing workshops packed with case studies

A really effective way to learn a lot about marketing in a short space of time is through a marketing workshop where you get to join in and you walk away with dozens of top tips, all underpinned by actual case studies and examples.   Dee has written and delivers three one-day Marketing workshops, suitable for just one delegate or up to eight.  These are:

PR on a Shoestring - You will learn:

• The most common mistakes that small businesses make when approaching PR
• The many benefits of PR
• How to build a successful PR presence online
• How to write and deliver a first-class press release
• How to identify genuine news stories, top tips, articles and case studies and how to structure them
• How to communicate effectively with journalists and editors
• How to build lasting and genuine two way relationships with key media contacts

• Business to Business Branding (Based upon the principles of Philip Kotler)

• Exhibition Skills masterclass

• One Day Intensive Marketing Strategy