How clean is your list?

If you’re in the UK you’ve probably heard of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).  This is the legislation that will replace the Data Protection Act on 25th May 2018.

The big issue for business people is that they need to be able to PROVE that any marketing emails they send out are being sent WITH PERMISSION of the recipient.

• If someone has opted into your list to get the follow-up material for a training programme you once ran, that doesn’t mean they have given you permission to send them marketing information.
• If you’ve met someone at a networking event or conference, that isn’t permission to market either.
• If someone has given you their business card that implies they want you to get in touch – but not to send them your newsletter every month.
• Even former clients don’t count as people who have given permission.

Even GDPR ‘experts’ disagree on what constitutes ‘permission’ and while the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) have 12 helpful steps, there are still a lot of grey areas.

Prove it!

Unless someone has gone through a double opt-in on one of the data-marketing platforms such as MailChimp, AWeber, ConstantContact, GetResponse or Infusionsoft (and there are many others) – you need a means of proving they have given you permission to send marketing information.

If you’ve uploaded a list from an exhibition you’ve attended – that’s not evidence!

If people have not unsubscribed from your newsletter – strictly speaking that’s not evidence either.

After 25th May you will need people to actively tick a box saying ‘I am happy to receive relevant marketing material’.  The alternative of ‘Tick here if you don’t want to receive marketing material’, isn’t good enough.

If someone has signed up to receive a free download – tips sheet or checklist or ebook – does that give you permission to send them marketing material?  Technically, unless when they signed up to the list there was a clear statement about what kind of communications they could expect.

Data-cleansing

Any data you hold – whether it’s just a name and email address or full customer records – must be deleted at some point, if it’s no longer in use. 

You will need a policy that states what data you keep and for how long.  Accounting information needs to be kept for 7 years (usually), but must be deleted after that.

If in doubt, notify your lists and ask them to re-subscribe.  You’ll lose a lot of subscribers this way, but the ones who do re-engage are the ones who are really interested, so you’ll get a much better response from your marketing emails.

What gets opt-in?

How do you persuade people to opt back into your list?  That’s easy, offer them what they want.

That’s not going to be marketing your products or services – but may well be valuable advice, access to special offers, free webinars or other items that they perceive to be of real value.

Like all good marketing – if you know your audience and give them what they want, you’ll sell more!

Does Facebook work for business?

For businesses that sell directly to consumers (B2C) the answer is a resounding ‘YES’, but even if your business is more business-to-business (B2B) don’t ignore Facebook.

Even if you don’t use Facebook personally, don’t fall into the trap of converting your personal account for business use.  Always create a proper business Page and complete all the information sections – the About page.

Facebook changes, almost weekly, and the current filters mean that, even though people may have liked or followed your Page, your business posts won’t appear in their feed.  “What’s the point in having a Page then?” I hear you cry – and there is more than one reason.

Firstly, if someone does a search for your business or for any of the search terms that your Page is optimised for, your Facebook Page is likely to appear above even your own website.  Facebook as a site is visited by millions of people daily and so gets highly ranked on the search engines.

Secondly, a well-managed Page sends a message about your business and your approach to business.

Thirdly, if you know how to use the paid services properly it can be an excellent way to expand your connections, get people to take action and bring in new customers.

What’s a ‘well-managed Page’?

It’s giving both Facebook and your audience what they want.  For most Pages that means that someone in your organisation posts daily – and directly onto Facebook.  I’m a big fan of social media management platforms like Hootsuite, but for Facebook it’s better to post on Facebook, not from elsewhere.

Make sure your posts offer something that is of interest and value to your target audience.  This means links to interesting articles, quizzes, videos, etc.  NOT sales pitches for your products or the daily trivia about what’s happening in your business.

Focus on images and short videos.  Facebook likes pictures – which is one of the reasons they bought Instagram – make sure you give them what they want.  Also most people respond more to image-based posts than text only.

Visit daily to review comments, questions and notifications.  Communicate with people in your feed so your audience feels like they’re talking to a real person.  Be human!

Isn’t Facebook advertising expensive?

It can be if you don’t get your demographics right, if you don’t know how to create successful ads – or if you forget to set your daily caps. 

If you’re paying £1 per click through to your website and the person who clicks through doesn’t take action, that’s £1 wasted.  However, if you only pay once the person has actually bought something or completed your sign up form, your £1 is much better spent.

If you limit your spend to – say - £10 a day, you’re in control.  The most you can spend in a week is £70 – and if that grows your list by 70 people or gets 70 sales, it’s worth the investment.

Random fact:  Did you know that a good return-on-investment for a GoogleAd is 4:1?  In other words for every £1 or $1 you spend you get 4 back.  That may not seem like a good profit, until you realise that the top internet marketers spend thousands of dollars on Google – and Facebook – ads.

Plan and budget

Don’t just launch a few ads and keep your fingers crossed.  Build your Page first with regular posts so your audience actively engages and feels there’s something worthwhile to visit for.  It’s no good asking people to like the Page if there’s nothing on it.

• Put a monthly plan together with post themes and gather interesting websites to link to.
• Decide what you want the Page to achieve each month and then plan your activities to work towards that goal.
• If you’re going to use Facebook Ads allocate a budget – for clicks and also for expert help in creating, testing and monitoring your ads.

Follow these basic steps and your Facebook Page could be an excellent business generator.

5 essentials to crowd-fund your next project

Growing a business is always a bit of a balancing act.  Most business owners have first-hand experience of overdraft facilities, loans, directors’ guarantees and more.  It’s that well-known cliché ‘Speculate to accumulate’ into action.

However, although there are still business angels, investors and bank loans available, the face of business finance has changed with the advent of crowd-funding.

Before you get excited about the prospect of ‘free money’ here are some tips that will not only help your crowd-funding activities to succeed, but also build a group of people who are interested in helping again on future projects.

1: Know what your audience wants

You need to have a very clear idea of your target audience and what they’re interested in.  Rambling on about your business won’t cut it. 

If you understand your target audience well the benefits should be easy to present – and I’m not just talking about the rewards to investors.  What else is important to them?  It might be ticking their corporate social responsibility box, helping the environment, providing information that they want, giving them a feeling of involvement, being part of an elite community.  Every audience is different.

2:  Wrap your pitch in a good story

As the saying goes ‘information tells; but stories sell’.  A series of facts, no matter how impressive work far better when presented as a story.  With a story you’re moving the pitch from intellectual to emotional – and people buy emotionally. 

There’s a big difference between:

‘This book will be aimed at professionals in the [industry type] who belong to the industry associations and institutions.’

And

‘It was only when my colleague, Pat, exclaimed “I wish you were next to my desk all day, you have so many unusual answers to the questions I have” that I realised I needed to get my ideas out of my head and into a book.  And I know that in Pat’s industry there are thousands of people just like her, with the same questions that the book will help.’

3:  Create interesting rewards

If you’re pitching to fund a product then your rewards will probably include the new product, unless it’s a very high ticket item.  Bigger investors might be offered a bundle of the new product and/or other products you sell.

If you’re pitching something that is too high ticket for lower end investors, you might offer them a discount or a VIP pack.

Always include a no-brainer option of £5 or £10, but don’t be afraid to include £1K+ options.  It depends on what you’re pitching, but don’t make big investors have to complete the pitch process several times because the maximum option is £100!

If you’re pitching to create a knowledge product – like a training programme, book or conference, your rewards might include access to Elite webinars for investors to give them something others can’t have.  This could include Q&A sessions or group coaching sessions.

4:  Shout about it!

When your pitch goes live don’t assume that everyone will mysteriously know about it.  Get on social media, tell your story, ask for help and give them the link to go and read your pitch. 

Don’t just post once – the social media feeds move so fast that many of your audience may not be looking during the few minutes after your post goes live.  Post daily until the closing date of the crowd-funding project – and at different times of day.  Ask people to share your post too.

See if the industry journals or magazines would be interested in learning about your project and add the crowd-funding link to the end of it.  Talk to your local press and don’t forget the online press.

The more people that know about it, the more investors you’ll get.

5:  Build your community

A great crowd-funding campaign includes keeping in touch with your investors to let them know how the project is progressing.  This is especially important if the funding includes product development and there is an extended period between the investment and the product being manufactured.

However, even a shorter-term project it’s important that people don’t invest and then hear nothing.  It’s all about gaining long-term commitment.  If you communicate with your investors they’ll be willing to invest again in the future.

It’s easy to get so involved with your new project that you forget to send out rewards or let people know when they can expect them.  The more information people get, the more comfortable they feel with their investment.

Be an Authority!

If you’re running a business you will almost certainly have competitors, so why should people come to you instead of one of those?

I’ve asked many people this question over the years (mainly because it’s an important issue to understand if I’m writing copy for them) – and the answers are rarely inspiring.

“We’re better.”
“We care.”
“We’re customer-focused.”
“We offer a bespoke service.”
“Our products are high quality.”
“We offer a guarantee.”
“We’re accredited by our trade body.”

On closer examination, any/all of these statements could also be applied to most of their competitors.  They are not what makes your business unique.

It could be price, but most people don’t really buy on price, they buy on what they get for their money.  That means you need to deliver massive value.

So you know your clients get amazing results from what you offer – how can you stand apart from your competitors?

There isn’t a single answer to this, but if you are good at getting your ideas down on paper (or onto a screen) have you considered finding a publication that might be interested in a regular column?

People who are columnists are perceived as an authority on the subject, so you are seen as the go-to person in your industry.  People expect to pay a premium for your services and feel they’re getting higher value service, so it’s a real advantage.

Do you have to be a good writer?

Not necessarily – but you do have to have good ideas and something to say.  If you know what your message is there is more than one way to get it across.

• You can write a draft for the publication’s editor to work on (as long as that’s agreed up front)
• If you’re more fluent talking than writing, you could record what you have to say as a voice file for them to transcribe
• You could work with a professional writer who would take your ideas and turn them into a well-written article (we do this for many of our clients).

Find the right publication

You may have ambitions to become a social commentator on one of the major dailies or glossy monthlies – but if your audience falls into a particular niche, you’d find it easier to approach their industry journals.

Smaller publications are always looking for high-quality content to keep their subscribers happy, so being a big fish in smaller pond can be easier to achieve than you might think.

Start with an ad hoc item and then ask if they might be interested in a regular article.  They may say ‘not now’, but come back to you in the future when the time is right for their publication.

Be professional

If you do land a regular column you must respect deadlines.  If the editor tells you your column must arrive by 15th of the month – don’t send it on 16th.  They will need it to layout the magazine and fit in ads and other graphics – if your item is late it may not appear and you’ll be the target of negative gossip in that magazine’s editorial department.

Don’t try and shoe-horn a sneaky sales pitch in – you’ll quickly lose your column.  Your role is as the fount of knowledge on your subject, not as a business development manager.

Many of these publications are happy to publish something at the foot of the item – either your photo and website, or sometimes a phone number or email address.

Don’t offer the same article to any other publications.  Your credibility will vanish in a moment if any of the editors discovers it has or is appearing elsewhere.

Need help? Get in touch, we’re always happy to give you a bit of advice – or hands-on support.