One of the things I have realised this week is how essential it is for businesses to collaborate. Too many people see competitors as a threat and hide away anything resembling strategy or customer insight from them.

But surely this is counter productive. Take two bars, for example, they will have a budget for marketing and use their own channels for marketing their business. They are focussed on increasing the number of people through the door and spend per head each month and often collaborating with their competitors is the last thing on their minds.

However consider the journey or flow of a customer on a standard night out. It is true that some people may just go to one bar and then leave after a quick drink, whereas many people will pop into a number of different establishments.

Ok so asking your competitor to advertise your bar on their direct marketing (pre visit) might be a little difficult, but once a customer is in your venue, why not promote another bar as the next destination?

There will always be pros and cons about cross promotions, but the key is realising the appropriate moment, when you are unlikely to get any more business but someone else could. If you have a reciprocal relationship with this establishment then both places can increase their visitors in conjunction with each other.

The key to collaboration with your competitors or other businesses is to consider the customer journey and whether it is beneficial for both parties. Having a coffee and chatting through your options is often the best way forward. You don’t have to give away your secrets….just open up to the possibility of supporting each other.

Training sessions are a vital component when growing your business whether that be expanding teams or increased turnover. They enable you to embrace new learning styles which can be used for business success and help you grow as both an individual and as a company.

As the years go on there are always new developments, whether they be an update on Google or the new digital technologies which change the way we market our businesses. The key to stay ahead of your competition is knowledge. Having an understanding of social media, smart phone technologies, website advancements, email marketing and much more.

We at Black Zest Solutions understand the importance of growing your business and we could not do it without continuously growing our own skills. There are different methods of learning however we feel that the best ways are those in which engage you into thinking practically, this enables you to go and use what you have learnt to your advantage.

Here at Black Zest HQ, we have various training packages including social media courses in Lancaster, Preston and Cumbria, that aim to support businesses no matter the size.

Unlike other agencies we are flexible in regards to our training methods, we can accommodate your business needs and can ensure you that once you have gone away from our ‘back to school’ sessions you will feel refreshed and be ready to enhance your own business. We can offer in house training with your staff or group sessions throughout the year.

We constantly have something refreshing going on at Black Zest Solutions and are happy to help out whenever possible. New packages are soon to be released which will give you the opportunity to enhance your business.

If you feel its about time to get with the modern times and start increasing your business potential contact us now for your free consultation and start benefiting today from our various training methods!

Here are a few basic steps you can follow to create your own marketing strategy.

1) Write down all the things you want to achieve this year. (Make sure these are realistic but also a challenge)

2) Give yourself a measurable target for each goal, to ensure you can gauge the success of your actions. Either a date, figure or outcome.

3) Then take each individual element and think how you can achieve these. Start at the top level (i.e. increasing awareness, strengthen brand..) and work down to specific actions (i.e. write 1 press release per month or place 2 adverts per month).

4) Take all the actions set out in the brainstorm and formulate a plan for the next year, week by week, of what things from the list you need to complete each week.

5) Make sure you continually measure the success of your actions by comparing your achievements against your goals. If something isn’t working don’t be disheartened, just consider what may have affected  it and try something new with that in mind!

Marketing Consultant Lancaster

Within this blog we are going to guide you through 10 useful tips that will open your mind to the wonders of E-mail marketing and how to succeed when doing so.

• Personalise it. Would you read it or be bored after one glance? Be creative, put yourself in your audiences shoes, keep it interesting so your audience is interested in you…
• Who is your audience? You may have more than one target audience so don’t be generic, it doesn’t have to take long, change it around and think what is going to make your audience read on….
• Think about your tag line; Be cheesy, be funny, be creative be anything you think would make your audience want to read on.. if your business is selling cars an example would be “Do you like the new Land Rover”…
• Don’t over complicate things, sometimes simplicity is key- at first glance your audience should know what you are about, be creative yes but don’t frustrate your audience…
• Keep it short and snappy- Would it be something you would remember, think of 118, 3 little numbers that straight away give you the image of those silly looking men with moustaches.
• Don’t over sell. This often puts customers off- focus on adding value and building relationships rather than increasing sales and the work will be done for you. (See our Sales pitch blog on how to create loyalty)
• Use strong calls to action: What do you want your audience to do now? Give them the information they need to contact you…
• STAND OUT! Your audience will probably have 20 other (if not more) e-mail newsletters ready to be opened in their inbox; so think about what will make you stand out…
• Depending on your business and customer base the amount of emails each month can vary, think about what information needs sending out and how often is deemed necessary.
• Avoid words such as ‘free, offer and discount etc.’ These terms are often related to spam, giving the reader the wrong impression, leading them not to open further emails from you.

The key is to entice your audience, make your e-mail stand out: be helpful, innovative and most importantly interesting. Using the right words along with the right title and background imagery can be difficult and it is vital that they are right so if you are still not sure on how to perfect your e-mail newsletter contact us for further information and we will be more than happy to help

Is it writing press releases, pulling stunts or having a presence on social media? In essence PR is managing how your customers and target markets perceive your company and ensuring you are viewed in the most positive light.

Many people look to PR in a crisis to mitigate bad press stories or events, however it is about maintaining your presence both online and off on an ongoing basis to ensure consistency of image.

Effective Public Relations is used to ensure that the right message is sent across to the right people. Implementing PR in any scenario is critical as it can entice and retain a customer base but also build profitable relationships with key stakeholders and other respectable bodies.

PR is used to communicate the positive attributes of your company and to protect against any potential negative aspects communicated. Good PR enhances the power of the positive attributes, through carefully created media messages, increasing brand awareness and engagement.

An example of how we have used interesting PR for a client is ‘Wyrebank Banqueting Suite’ and the publicity stunt we carried out on the high streets of Garstang last year. A number of women were chased down the high street in wedding dresses, eating cake and being chased by a personal trainer. This was to promote the bridal boot camp at Wyrebank itself and created bemusement and intrigue to the locals and passers-by. The PR stunt was extremely successful and was published in a number of local newspapers and created social media hype.

Another relevant case study would be the stunt carried out by Hilton on the London Thames recently. The stunt was launched on ‘Blue Monday’ and featured beautiful models in freezing cold temperatures in swimsuits with the Hilton Logo parading around like they were in the Bahamas. The main objective: to create a ‘happy’ atmosphere on the dullest day of the year along with promoting the hotel chain. This particular stunt was a success because it was relevant and timely to the day and was able to maintain public interest by engaging them in beach side activities and of course the models were an extra incentive.

For more information on how we can help your company stand out from the crowd, contact us now on 01524 510495 or email hello@blackzestsolutions.co.uk

Author: Shoni Donaghey – Marketing Assistant

Many companies have been successful with their sales pitches however some fail at the first hurdle. In this blog we will be telling you how to improve your 60 second sales pitch with a few pointers, these pointers will enable you to not only be confident with your pitch but also give the impression to your audience that you are a worthwhile company to find out more about.

A well known mistake that is often made by bidding professionals or even established companies is their focus on their ideas and what the company is about, when in reality a well presented stimulating sales pitch is more focused on the consumer and what benefits the business will bring to them.

It is important to start your sales pitch by focusing on your target audience, having them know you understand what their needs are, is regarded as an essential tool in retaining them as a potential market.

The key here is to gain the audience’s attention, think about why you are giving the sales pitch in the first place: to attract attention for the business to grow and expand its customer base.

If you start your pitch off by saying ‘The company has been around for 11 years and has been awarded with….the new product will be great’ you are not capturing the attention in which you need, great you have won awards- fantastic that you are successful enough to be in business for such a long time but be specific at the start about what benefits can you offer and what makes YOU different? The significant points that need to be infiltrated within the pitch are words that show the audience how the business is going to benefit them, how the business will improve their lives.

Here are a few points to take into consideration when delivering a sales pitch:

• Who are you delivering it to? It is important to know your audience so you know how to communicate with them: professional or casual manner?
• What is the message? Be clear with your message in order to avoid confusion, if you are not clear then your audience will not be engaged and therefore you will lose credibility
• Why are you delivering it? Think about what you want to get out of this message, more customers? If so, then know how to communicate to them, know your objectives so you know what to say in order to get them on your side.

For advice on how to market your business contact us now on 01524 510495 or email hello@blackzestsolutions.co.uk to speak to our marketing consultant.

Written by Shoni Donaghey – Marketing Assistant

With the recent closures of a number of high street stores and the announcement of HMV going into administration…what is the future for our high streets and what can be done to protect against the looming threat of online retailers?

This blog post started due to a recent conversation on Twitter regarding the issues. The conversation is shown below:

JackieHarris ‏@jackieharris “Should we care about the death of HMV? Interesting points made in The Guardian. http://fb.me/H2iOWogz”

Ray Thomas ‏@Springleanet “@jackieharris I’m more concerned about the trend. Once every name has left the High Street what will that mean for our town centres?”

Kaelia Preston @KaeliaPreston “@Springleanet Means the clever so and so’s online will start charging the street prices since we’ve killed it ourselves, shame really”

Ray Thomas ‏@Springleanet “@KaeliaPreston The next step will be complaints handled via a premium rate telephone line. No real customer service. Price isn’t everything.”

Kaelia Preston ‏@KaeliaPreston “@Springleanet Unfortunately it’s going that way, what we need is locals to remember the Independents first, get people on the high street”

Sarah Cooper ‏@BlackZestS “@KaeliaPreston @Springleanet It’s a difficult balance between service & price. I believe those who focus on service & added value will survive”

Sarah Cooper ‏@BlackZestS “@KaeliaPreston @Springleanet Those that are price sensitive will always go online. But there are still many people that want the experience.”

This provides a snap shot of the type of fears business owners are facing with the announcement of large brands like HMV going into administration. What will our high street look like in 5 years time?

There is always going to be online competition and HMV will certainly not be the last company to have difficulties over the coming year. However what can smaller independent retailers do to prevent the same fate?

It is important that retailers do not forget the importance of online marketing and sales. 2 high street stores who have announced increased profits are Next (3.9%) and John Lewis (13% over Christmas). This is partly because they understand that online and store locations are symbiotic, they function together to create the most profitable balance. Although many smaller retailers may struggle to offer products online as well, it is important to consider how online marketing, social media and promotion can be used to join the on and offline presence of these businesses.

One of the key points discussed above is service. The one thing that online retailers cannot do is offer a truly personal face to face service, build up a rapport with their loyal customers and to understand their needs.

Online retailers may reward loyal customers with discounts or coupons and they may send personalised emails based on previous purchases, but this is not the same. In many markets for example, the music & gaming industry, online is an almost inevitable progression. However many markets have got much more potential to fight back.

A perfect example is for make up. When considering the purchase of a new foundation it is unlikely a woman will simply order one from an online retailer without trying it in a store first. They can go to a store, test the colours out on their skin and get advice from the shop assistants. They are getting a value added service for going to a store and reassurance that the product is right for them.

In my opinion this is the key to surviving in this market place. Focusing on the customer service you are offering and the value added services to your customers. What extras can you offer your customers as an incentive to stay local to the high street?

Related articles

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• Twitter campaign launched to get rich entrepreneurs to save HMV
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These are all familiar questions from many of my clients on the basics of Twitter. I decided to make you a basic guide to Twitter to help you along the social media maze that is Twitter.

Firstly some definitions:

Tweet: A tweet is what you write on Twitter, like a status update on Facebook, only it is restricted to 140 characters.

@ Mention: When you want to mention another Twitter user in your tweet you place an @ sign in front of their username. This then shows up in their stream for them to read. For example: Great meeting with @BlackZestS today. Looking forward to the future.

Hashtag (#) : This is used to group related content on Twitter. For example  #Business or  #journorequest . It is useful to use these in your tweets to get noticed by more people and also good to read other related tweets to see what other people are saying.

Those are the basic terms used when using Twitter and the key things to know when setting up. There are a few other points to remember when using Twitter, in particular when setting up your profile.

1. Writing your bio – This is what people see when they search for who to follow. Make it short, snappy and different. What makes you or your company different? Do you have any outlandish hobbies or awards you can shout about?
2. Profile picture - Choose an image of yourself rather than your company logo. This gives a personal touch which is needed in an ever changing social environment.
3. Choosing your main image - Be careful about your main image (not your profile picture). This is the image behind your bio. It needs to be the right size and layout so that you can still see the image and read your bio effectively.

Those really are the basics to Twitter. The key to success is interacting with others, commenting on updates, engaging with other users and adding to the conversation. The more people you talk to and engage with, the more people will follow you and the more you will be heard!

For more help and support with setting up your Social Media and Marketing contact us today on hello@blackzestsolutions.co.uk or phone 01524 510495

A new year is fast approaching and it’s the perfect time to dust off those marketing plans and grand ideas and start to plan for the future. We wrote a quick guide to marketing strategy this time last year which can be found here  so why not take a look.

We all get bogged down in the day to day running of our business but from time to time we need to start to think about how we market our businesses and what our marketing strategy really is.

The key to successful marketing is having a plan, a vision and an agreed direction. This enables you to make decisions based on your goals and objectives, not just randomly. Which saves you time, money and is a lot more effective.

Our marketing consultants in Lancaster can work with you to revitalise your marketing strategy and to drive your business forward in the new year. We offer free marketing health checks, so why not give us a call and book your free check now.

01524 510495 or email hello@blackzestsolutions.co.uk

New Marketing Strategy (Photo credit: Intersection Consulting)

I recently found this graphic which aims to show how marketing strategy has moved on. Showing the intricacies of how social media and Online marketing is a cycle of distribution, recognition and analysis. However I couldn’t help feeling that many of these new age diagrams forget too easily the effects of offline and traditional marketing methods.

I am the first to point out the importance of social media and integration of social media into your marketing strategy, however I think we should not forget other methods and ensure we combine the force of these two mediums to create the most powerful effect. Check out my latest guest blog on the Lancaster University, InfoLab21 site titled Social Media – Integration is Key which discusses ways in which this can be achieved.

For example many companies have great impact with innovative direct marketing campaigns and interactive PR stunts, even more so when mixed with online social sharing. I think these infographics, which are cropping up all the time have very single vision and need to attempt to look at the bigger picture of integration.

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