In all seriousness though, these emails must work…otherwise they wouldn’t use them.  On average, you can expect a return of between 0.5% and 10% on a cold email list, so the more people you spam, the more people buy.  But that doesn’t help the average, ethically-conscious company who has an important message for their customers.

So what are our top tips if you’re using email to reach your customers?

1. Don’t just use email because you think it’s a cheap way to contact people.  It must fit into your marketing strategy and bring you a return on investment.
2. Send to people who ask to be included on your mailing list, rather than collecting business cards and sending your email to as many people as possible – you’ll just upset people doing the latter.
3. Keep the content in the email – it’s proven that most people don’t open attachments.
4. Use a great title – that can make the difference between people opening the email…or not.
5. Beware the use of photos.  They look great, but many people have their email clients set to leave photographs hidden for security reasons.
6. Keep the content simple – allow people to scan the content and pick out what they need.
7. Personalise the content as much as possible – I want to know your email is to me.  Not to 3000 other people.
8. Ensure the content is interesting… with the best will in the world, I don’t really care if you have a new building, or if Jenny from Accounts is having a baby.  All your customers care about is what’s in it for them.
9. Keep it relevant.  By segmenting your customer data, you can send relevant information and promotions to the right people.
10. Monitor your results.  Test and measure and find out what works and, more importantly, what doesn’t.

And… if all else fails, consider reverting to post.  This good, old-fashioned marketing method is staging a comeback amidst all the email traffic.  And a great envelope and mailer can still stand out from the crowd.

How times have changed. And for me, they’ve changed for the better.  Customers now have an endless source of information about products they might like to buy.  They can review them on forums and ask their friends about which they’d recommend.  They can ‘Google’ the brand and test how socially aware a company is.  And, ultimately, they have the power to decide who they buy from.

Convenience is king – and the internet has brought that in spades.  It’s changed the way our high streets look and created a whole new raft of brands unheard of 10 years ago.  Most companies now have a large number of competitors; some online and some offline and, unless you’re doing something unusual, it’s very difficult to stand out from the crowd.

Generalist services and companies have given way to niche products and services.  Customers like to know you understand their particular wants and needs and can offer them better customer service.  The plus side is that they’ll then share you with their friends online – provided you make it easy for them to do so.

Kevin Roberts, worldwide CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi said in a recent interview “We’ve moved from an attention economy – where marketing was about interrupting people – to a participation economy, where people want to pass on things they like to a friend”.

What exciting times we live in…We hope you’re taking advantage of those changes in your business.

I can’t share all of the tips – you need to see Nigel speak for that, but the one that stuck in my mind was related to marketing.  Nigel’s third tip for super success was this:

The first thing super successful business owners do every day is the most important, most critical thing for the success and growth of their business…

…it’s marketing

Naturally, as a Chartered Marketer, I would think this is a great tip.  But Nigel made a crucial point – do you look after your marketing first thing in the morning, or does it slowly progress down your ‘in-tray’, under things like customer call backs, HR issues and invoicing?

If generating customers is the lifeblood of your business, surely you should be looking after your marketing first?  Before you do any other work?

From a branding perspective, every audience member will have perceived something different…

• Have you been overwhelmed with the colour and the passion of the people (as I am)?
• Are you overwhelmed with the images of poverty and suffering?
• Would you say their branding shows a united nation?

Every one of the millions of people around the globe watching the World Cup will perceive something about South Africa as a country. And South Africa as a brand.  And it’s the same for your company – your customers will pick up on subtle messages about you and your business, and they will make up their own mind about what you stand for – and what you don’t.  And their perception is reality – at least for them.  the question is, will it stop them from buying?

And will some minority prospect ruin your brand for others?  With the advent of social media, it’s very easy for one or two dissenting customers to have their say about your business; whether founded or otherwise.  You need to Google your name and that of your business, and try to control the messages about you and your brand – at least comment on any bad publicity where you are able.

Back to Africa, the question this week is whether the symbol of the South African global football brand – the vuvuzela – will be constrained in some way.  For me, the sounds of the vuvuzela sum up South Africa’s branding – it’s loud, it’s colourful and above all, it’s fun.  Would you like someone else to take control of your branding the way we’re trying to take control of theirs??

The key lessons he covered were as follows:

• For the first time ever, we are experiencing Global Overcapacity – we have too much of most stuff.  So you can’t be a generalist any more.  Over the past few weeks on the blog, we’ve talked a lot about specialising and focusing on a niche – this is where the sensible money is being made now.
• Commodisation - everything is copied or shared in an instant and people believe they have a right to do that.  Just look at the row over downloading and sharing music, which we’ve also covered on the blog – most teenagers have always done this and the web just made it easier.
• Cheap is now the standard – your customers expect value for money, so you can no longer compete on price alone – which is fantastic news, because it makes business owners think outside the box and compete in areas that really make them special.

The key is to stand out from the crowd – make your company memorable.  And get some help doing this if it isn’t your strength.

“Nothing is best done alone anymore”  Rene Carayol

Markets are moving too fast, so you need to build a team and surround yourself with people better than you.  This might be employees or freelancers, but you need to play to your strengths and bolster your weaknesses using the talent of others – what a great lesson.  It’s the fundamental principle on which our Business Academy is based and even Donald Trump knows he can’t know everything.

Thanks to Barclays and to Rene for a fantastic event – if you get the chance, go along and see one of these.  You never know what you might learn – or who you might meet!

But what does it mean for your business?

Tesco posted profits of £3.17 billion for 2009, but for the vast majority of British businesses, profits will be well below that level and many have sustained heavy losses in the last year; in terms of redundancies and customer / supplier losses.  So what can most businesses look forward to?

Recent information from the Chartered Institute of Marketing has been looking at how customers have changed with the recession.  They give trends to look out for, as follows…

• People are still wary of spending.  In spite of some customers being better off due to falls in interest rates, they are still watching their cash.
• That said, credit card borrowing is rising again, as we find the credit habit hard to beat (despite the fact that living beyond our means helped create the recession).
• DIY and ‘Make Do & Mend’ Trends are still popular
  
• Consumers seem to be hunting for value for money – both Next and John Lewis recently posted rising sales figures, although some other high street retailers are struggling.  It seems people are buying fewer items, but looking for quality and items that will last.  The question is whether this will be a long-term change in buying habits.

With these trends high in the minds of many consumers, your business needs to review its sales messages, as the country starts to recover.  Are you selling what people want?  Are you giving people the best value for money that you can?

There will be plenty of opportunities – you just to ensure you position your business to take advantage…

1. Abstrakt, a team from Kirkbie Kendal School, highlighted the importance of market research and finding out whether your product would actually sell
2. LOL, from Dallam School calculated their hourly rate by looking at the time they spent manufacturing versus the profit they made – and identified they’d been working for just 50p per hour.
3. Sublime from Queen Katherine School tapped into the local supplier and green trends with their food hampers.  They also gave a masterclass in branding and adapting your product to your customers and taking advantage of special events, such as Valentines and Mothers Day.
4. Poise from Casterton tapped into a huge trend and created flash cards to help people learn Mandarin.  They also presented on their pricing strategy and marketing mix and showed amazing understanding of both.
5. Perfection from Dowdales mentioned how unsure they were about whether to use the banks, as they were ‘struggling’ in the current climate; something I’m sure the sponsoring bank wouldn’t have appreciated, but a sensible business question nonetheless.
6. TP16 from George Hastwell school highlighted the importance of fun alongside the hard work; a message echoed by the guest speaker; Thomas Nobblett from the Langdale Chase
7. Perhaps the most poignant message for me was presented by Laborare from St Bernard’s School who acknowledged that you didn’t need to spend money to make money.  They won the Innovation Award for their Treasure Map and Wii Week which raised over £170 for the company.

It was humbling watching young people share so much business knowledge and I was once again impressed by the amount of learning participants on the Young Enterprise programmes retain.  I just wish it was available for start-up business owners – it would certainly save a lot of wasted time and money.

Well done to all the teams – you were all excellent and we wish Abstrakt and LOL the very best of luck for the area finals.

In a story that has rambled on for months, it seems the only people we haven’t heard from directly are Willie Walsh and Tony Woodley (of the Unite union).  But others are more than happy to put words in their mouths and second-guess what’s happening behind closed doors.

Employees are clearly unhappy, but the city has reacted positively to the cost cuts, with shares rising strongly in spite of the dispute.  I wonder, is it ever possible to keep everyone happy?

Our top marketing tips for controlling what people are saying about your business are:

1. Don’t let people put words in your mouth.  If you have an opportunity to release statements to the press, or hold interviews, accept them.
2. Invest in media training – in the middle of a crisis, you don’t want to make things worse by saying the wrong thing or crumbling under pressure from journalists
3. Consider your internal marketing – communication with your staff is key.  If you don’t tell them what’s happening, they’ll make up their own version of the story
4. Protect your customers at all costs – or your staff will be lucky to have a business to work for

British Airways has been forced to cancel 50% of its flights this weekend – I dread to think how much that will cost them in compensation.  But that’s not the half of it.  How many of us would consider booking a British Airways flight amid the current turmoil?  Their competitors must be rubbing their hands!

Using a business model centred on party-planning, with marketing and sales activities limited to women’s homes, and with a strict ‘no men allowed’ policy, Ann Summers became a household name.  This approach may be viewed as sexist by some – in the politically correct times in which we live – but it proved hugely successful for the company.

Jacqueline really understood her customers and targeted them perfectly.  As a result, she built a company which has a gross annual sales turnover of £150m.  The group ranks as one of the most successful and profitable private companies in Britain and Jacqueline has earned a place amongst ‘Britain’s 100 Most Influential Women’.

We hope you’ll agree this is a great example of a successful business woman and a marketing model centred around your customers.

Whilst some companies believe only corporates or plcs need to understand and utilise branding, I’m afraid it affects every business; large or small and it’s crucial to your success.

Your brand is often the first impression of your business – if someone walks past your shop or office, or visits your website, they will make all kinds of decisions about you just based on your logo.  It sounds unfair, but we do exactly the same thing when we meet someone face to face – we rely just 7% on what they say and make the rest of our judgement based on their body language and the tone of their voice.

Imagine, just for a second, a Mercedes Logo.  Then consider what that brand conjures up to you, in terms of the culture of the company, the type of person who might buy Mercedes, the mission of the company, their target audience and key messages.

Chances are you may never have owned a Mercedes, but just from a logo, you’ve jumped to all sorts of conclusions about the company – and what you think you know about them.  Yet all of that can be collated often from just a simple collection of shapes, lines and sometimes words.

If you can do that with Mercedes – a brand you’ve probably heard and read a lot about, what are people perceiving about your business from your logo?  They may never have heard of you before, but they will be reading things into your branding – the question is, do they like what they see?