3 quick fixes to make your marketing work harder

Marketing can feel unnecessarily complicated - especially for smaller businesses. There’s always a new channel to learn, a new tactic to try, and a long list of ‘best practices’ that all seem to demand more time. When you’re busy running the business, marketing can get pushed to the bottom of the list or done in quick bursts between everything else. A few focused tweaks can often deliver better results without eating up even more of your time.

We asked Liz Hawkins, Senior Marketing lecturer at the University of Brighton and Help to Grow course lead what 3 areas were the most worthwhile to tweak so they can work harder and make a difference to your business.

1. Talk about outcomes not features

People want to know what your product or service can do for them. When you next go to update web pages, emails, social media, brochures etc check that your messaging leads on what you can do to help your customers.

This can be clearly shown as 1 Feature 2 Outcome 3 Proof.

For example - Help to Grow 1 Teaches business skills so 2 Your business can grow 3 Over 10,000 people completed nationally.

2. Get proof from real people

92% of business to business buyers are more likely to purchase after reading a trusted review* so showcase real customers who have used your service to evidence messaging and build a foundation of trust. If you have provided a good product or service, ask customers for feedback to use in your marketing - most people are happy to give you a quote explaining how it has helped them. 

3 Add a strong call to action everywhere

Sometimes marketing fails as it doesn’t ask people to do anything or there isn’t a clear way to get in contact at the point the customer has made a decision. Busy people skim marketing messages so have more than one CTA that tells people what to do next where they need it.

Marketing is just one of the modules on Help to Grow the 12-week business course from the University of Brighton taught by sector experts including Liz. Over 250 local business leaders have taken the course and they have just announced a new date in April with Brighton Chamber members getting a 50% discount on the cost.

*Forbes report Why B2B Reviews Should Be An Essential Part Of Your Marketing Mix

Help to Grow have just announced a new course starting in April for local businesses with 5+ staff . Find out more about the programme and how it can help you develop your leadership skills and grow your business. It’s offered at 50% off the cost for Brighton Chamber members so the 12-week University of Brighton programme is only £375. Find out more or email helptogrow@brighton.ac.uk with any questions or to arrange to chat with a course leader to see if this is right for you.

If you want to contribute to the Chamber blog, contact us on hannah@brightonchamber.co.uk