If you were suddenly asked to be Marketing Director, where would you start?

[The Cafe Ninja]

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Hi all,

I’ve recently been asked to take over the Marketing of our family business, an underfloor heating company based in the UK (http://www.ruhs.co.uk – and yes a new website is one of my goals!). Although I don’t currently work in Marketing, I do have a degree in Marketing and work as a process improvement consultant.

I’m starting from scratch with a company that’s never really been marketed before – it has grown very slowly but is quite profitable and I believe it has huge potential to grow further.

So my question is to all of you – if YOU had this opportunity what would you do??? What would be your Marketing strategy to grow the business???

I’d really appreciate any ideas….

[Warren Cottis]

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Dear Ninja

I suggest that you revisit your brand and its message… it’s a foundation stone of the creative process and now is an opportune time to review it.

In essence your brand is the image of your business and that image needs to be conveyed consistently throughout your website and all of your marketing materials both online and offline.

As you already know… your current website does not convey the message of happy warm people in unhappy climates so there’s plenty to do…. let alone some SEO, call to action, list building, email marketing etc

[Benedict]

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Hi Mr Ninja

I would no do anything till I had a full understanding of 2 things:

1. Who are the customers of Reid, and what do they want from Reid? Heating is part of the answer but there is more subtle stuff there too. Create a Dummy Customer Profile based on the ideal customer.

2. What do Reid want to achieve and what are they prepared to do to get it? This gives you the calls to action and your scope – the real scope.

After this it is a case of strategy followed by implementation. Perhaps document your agreed strategies to keep the Reids from dropping off the plan.

Have fun

[LeelaCosgrove]

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The very FIRST thing I would do would be to get a hold of the Jay Abraham book “Getting Everything you Can Out of All You’ve Got”. I’ve done the Jay Bootcamp twice and I know people who have said they would trade their MBA’s or Marketing Degrees for that three day event … it’s just that powerful.

The key, really, is good information. Get a hold of it and implement it. Too many people seem to think that sales and marketing is an organic process – or that you can go to a couple of free events and learn everything you need to know about how to make it work.

All of the highly successful marketers I know of have spent a LOT of money on their education (and had it returned in droves).

[mike@engagemarketing]

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Hi Ninja,
I think that you need to start with the mindset “im not selling heating, i’m selling comfort”. Build your brand around that because odds are, your competitors are stuck with no emotional connection in your message.

If you build your marketing mix around that you should be set! Similar to what Leela has said, I recommend attending some workshops or reading some books just to get your mind ticking over and inspired by the opportunities out there.

I wrote a blog post today suggesting some Great marketing books that you may find useful.

Cheers,
Mick

[The Cafe Ninja]

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warrenc, post: 7094 wrote:

Dear Ninja

I suggest that you revisit your brand and its message… it’s a foundation stone of the creative process and now is an opportune time to review it.

In essence your brand is the image of your business and that image needs to be conveyed consistently throughout your website and all of your marketing materials both online and offline.

As you already know… your current website does not convey the message of happy warm people in unhappy climates so there’s plenty to do…. let alone some SEO, call to action, list building, email marketing etc

Thanks Warren, I am at this present moment trying to persuade my parents to let me re-brand the company. I’d like to focus the company on being more of a heating provider so that we can expand to other complimentary products in the future. I am looking to focus on the “green market” – after all underfloor heating is a fantastic money saver, and hence a saver of the planet. One question, what do you mean by a “call to action”?

[The Cafe Ninja]

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Benedict, post: 7119 wrote:

Hi Mr Ninja

I would no do anything till I had a full understanding of 2 things:

1. Who are the customers of Reid, and what do they want from Reid? Heating is part of the answer but there is more subtle stuff there too. Create a Dummy Customer Profile based on the ideal customer.

2. What do Reid want to achieve and what are they prepared to do to get it? This gives you the calls to action and your scope – the real scope.

After this it is a case of strategy followed by implementation. Perhaps document your agreed strategies to keep the Reids from dropping off the plan.

Have fun

Hi Benedict – it certainly is fun! I love it! I just wish I didn’t have a “day job” so I could spend more time on it. Thanks very much for your help. We have 4 main customer segments and I am trying to tailor the new website to provide each of those segments with what they are looking for to convert more of our leads. I’m also planning on implementing a range of online surveys to understand what our past customers thought of our service and also one to track why people didn’t go ahead with quotes.

I’m putting everything into a marketing plan which I am systematically working through based on priority (revenue generating!)

[The Cafe Ninja]

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LeelaCosgrove, post: 7121 wrote:

The very FIRST thing I would do would be to get a hold of the Jay Abraham book “Getting Everything you Can Out of All You’ve Got”. I’ve done the Jay Bootcamp twice and I know people who have said they would trade their MBA’s or Marketing Degrees for that three day event … it’s just that powerful.

The key, really, is good information. Get a hold of it and implement it. Too many people seem to think that sales and marketing is an organic process – or that you can go to a couple of free events and learn everything you need to know about how to make it work.

All of the highly successful marketers I know of have spent a LOT of money on their education (and had it returned in droves).

Thanks Leela – I’m planning on putting a lot of means in place to gather info on our customers (and the ones that get away). I’ll be sure to get that book!

[The Cafe Ninja]

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mike@engagemarketing, post: 7158 wrote:

Hi Ninja,
I think that you need to start with the mindset “im not selling heating, i’m selling comfort”. Build your brand around that because odds are, your competitors are stuck with no emotional connection in your message.

If you build your marketing mix around that you should be set! Similar to what Leela has said, I recommend attending some workshops or reading some books just to get your mind ticking over and inspired by the opportunities out there.

I wrote a blog post today suggesting some Great marketing books that you may find useful.

Cheers,
Mick

Thanks Mick – I checked out your blog and liked that article. I’ll try to get a hold of those books. I also really like your blog design – very smart. I’m going to try to focus the brand on being eco friendly – I think that is a good attribute to tap into.

[Benedict]

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Hi Mr Ninja

Thanks for the feedback.

I am going to be a Devil’s Advocate and question the Green thing. Do people who have money for serious heaters really (and I mean really) purchase for abstract reasons of saving a planet from a remote and only possible future? I’m not sure they do. I think they purchase for their own comfort and economy.

They may like their neighbors to think they are environmentally aware and all that but I think their own desires and practicalities are what really rule the choices.

I am thinking toastiness, up-front and on-going costs are the main game. Energy saving are nice tack-ons but perhaps not the real winners.

[The Cafe Ninja]

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Benedict, post: 7334 wrote:

Hi Mr Ninja

Thanks for the feedback.

I am going to be a Devil’s Advocate and question the Green thing. Do people who have money for serious heaters really (and I mean really) purchase for abstract reasons of saving a planet from a remote and only possible future? I’m not sure they do. I think they purchase for their own comfort and economy.

They may like their neighbors to think they are environmentally aware and all that but I think their own desires and practicalities are what really rule the choices.

I am thinking toastiness, up-front and on-going costs are the main game. Energy saving are nice tack-ons but perhaps not the real winners.

Good point. Most of the other companies that offer underfloor heating in the UK focus on the warmth and comfort connotations. Still, I do want to make us a bit different. It’s something I need to think about and do some research into. Further to your point, a lot of our customers are big commercial companies – not sure if they care about the green angle. Either way the name needs to change at some point – the current name is too limiting…but it’s not the top priority at the moment…

[Warren Cottis]

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The Process Ninja, post: 7320 wrote:

Thanks Warren, One question, what do you mean by a “call to action”?

Hi Ninja

A “call to action” is something that you want your visitor to do when they visit your website and you only have a limited time to engage with them. A typical “call to action” is to join a list or to download your e-book …. The 7 Biggest Mistakes people make when buying underfloor heating…. but it could be to make a booking, join a class etc

I have a weekly Internet Marketing Tips Ezine … if you would like to receive it just click here… and keep asking questions!

[The Cafe Ninja]

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warrenc, post: 7388 wrote:

Hi Ninja

A “call to action” is something that you want your visitor to do when they visit your website and you only have a limited time to engage with them. A typical “call to action” is to join a list or to download your e-book …. The 7 Biggest Mistakes people make when buying underfloor heating…. but it could be to make a booking, join a class etc

I have a weekly Internet Marketing Tips Ezine … if you would like to receive it just click here… and keep asking questions!

Thanks – I’ve just signed up – much appreciated.

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