Business not working effectively? Have you considered a business relaunch?

4 December, 2015/in B2B, Marketing /by Creative Agency Secrets Team

If your business isn’t working as effectively as it once was, a business relaunch might be for you. Relaunching a business is a proactive decision taken to ensure that your business stays relevant and engaging in this new fast-paced, dog eat dog world. If a business is relaunched successfully, it can shed its old, ineffective face – and usher in it’s new, more successful era. Here are our tips for business relaunch, to make sure you nail it.

Our Tips for a Successful Business Relaunch

Do Your Homework

The first step of any major change is to work out what isn’t working. Analyse your business, and work out what was effective, and what wasn’t. Recruit someone to give you a hand with this; preferably someone unbiased who won’t sugar coat the truth. From here, go deeper and work out why your business wasn’t working; have your customers changed? Has your market changed? Is your product still what it once was? This is the defining moment of a relaunch decision – carry it out accordingly! Having extensive knowledge of both your own business and the wider market is key to a successful relaunch.

Learn from your Mistakes

Now that you know what wasn’t working and why, it is time to make some changes. In front of you there are two ‘piles’: the good things and the bad. Keep the good things – be it your software, product, or even your business cards, and take the lessons from the bad things. These lessons are the most important part of a relaunch – learn from, and don’t forget them. Make positive decisions based on what you learned – this is where your business has its grand rebirth – it is a landmark moment. You have an effective business again – go you.

Spread the Good Word

Now you effectively have a new business – but no one knows about it. This is your time to share your business with the world (again). If you can signal the relaunch of your business with an event, and promote it in such way as to get people talking about it, you’ll put yourself in a strong position to start well. Your main aim here is not only to promote your business, but also to differentiate it and shed the image of the old one. If you can express the fact that your business is leaner, meaner, (maybe cleaner and greener), and here to stay – then you might be onto a winner.

Want to read more?

This article focuses on business relaunch options, and introduces the concept of pivoting your business
While slightly older, this article shares some fantastic war stories of businesses that have relaunched.
Look here for a quick relaunching guide from Marketing Donut.

Marketing Online magazine features how to use RSS

23 November, 2015/in B2B, B2C, Content Marketing, Marketing /by Rebecca Caroe

Rebecca’s article ion how marketers can use RSS is in this month’s edition of Marketing Online (p22-23).

Really stoked that we’re getting online!

Unusual Christmas gifts for business

12 November, 2015/in B2B, Marketing ideas /by Rebecca Caroe

A client asked us what they could do to thank their clients for their business that was more original than a christmas card. Here’s a summary of our suggestions:

Charity Gifts

Do a charity donation plus a performance. I know the CEO of StarJam a charity empowering young people wiht disabilities through performance and singing. Pay to sponsor their class for a year (it costs $30 per child per month), invite all your clients to a drinks party (mid-winter) and get a performance from the troupe. I’ve experienced these and they are very powerful, plus it’s local and community building.

Better still, make the donation in the name of your client and get StarJam to send a thank you card direct to the client so they know it was given by you but they get the recognition.

Subscription gifting

Choose something that comes once a month so clients remember you throughout the year. The Ma Cherie cafe makes exquisite French macaroons and pastries (I had breakfast there today) and they could send a box gift from you all. Or FarroFoodKits (Auckland only) or SnackPack the Honest Food Co,

Others include Bacon delivery or beauty products, pet gift boxes or shaving products monthly.

Cafe Direct the ethical coffee and tea business offers “Handpicked” a monthly selection club.

Overall, a good business gift should be memorable, enjoyable and if you can, unusual and over-riding all these it must align with your brand values.

Here are a few other helpful articles which may give you inspiration

Forbes list of gifts to keep you top of mind
Helpful lightbox advising shipping information
The Uncommon Gifts company – helpful lightbox pops up to advise they ship to New Zealand.
The Great Gift company UK – nice categories to select from by recipient.
That Sweet Gift – has a holiday gift guide

Website appraisal – criteria for success

29 September, 2015/in B2B, Digital media, Strategy /by Rebecca Caroe

If you ask Creative Agency Secrets to help improve your website marketing, a good place to

Number 1 business website problem
Credit: Wikipedia

start is with a website appraisal. You get a summary document of issues and recommendations for improvements.

So far, so good.

The number 1 problem with business websites

Let me tell you the one thing that over and over trips up our website appraisal – the site is created without having first answered these 3 questions.

Who is it for?
What is it about?
What do you want visitors to do?

If you create a business website without first doing these 3 answers, the results will be haphazard.

Answering them will inform

writing style
keywords
calls to action
menu structure
ancillary marketing (newsletter / brochures / case studies)
blog categories, themes and post-types

I’ve just been asked to appraise a web page called “Why choose us?”.

Believe me, it was desperately hard, because the page did not answer the question in the title.

I am known for being straight-talking and as a result the report was frank – if the client had first done the thinking, then they would have a much clearer website page and I could have added much more value with more detailed recommendations. Without answers I could only guess the answers and the recommendations weren’t as full and complete as I would have liked.

Do your business website a favour today

Go and answer those 3 questions. NOW!

Signed: In grateful thanks – your marketing team

Want more marketing ideas for your business?

Get in touch for a free 20 minute discussion by clicking the link bottom right on this page.

The blue icons opposite are part of our 8-Step New Business Development Methodology.

Click each icon to find more blog articles on the topic – educate yourself in modern marketing

Create Demand By Learning How to Make Your Website Perform

28 September, 2015/in B2B, B2C, Marketing, Marketing ideas /by Rebecca Caroe

This is the webinar of the year which we’ve put together for you.

In it, Rebecca explains how to find out if your website is performing using 3 simple free testing tools. You should do these tests now and see if the results match your expectations.

How to run a website (design and functionality)
Top 3 website frustrations business owners have and how to solve them
Top tips to get your website generating leads
3 Free tools to test your own website to see if it’s performing (or not)

Good copywriting for membership websites

30 July, 2015/in B2B, Case Studies, Copywriting, Marketing ideas /by Rebecca Caroe

This month we’re working on two clients both with membership businesses. They need strong copywriting on both their home page and the landing / squeeze page where the pitch for members is made.

We got out and tried to find some good examples of membership sites where a really compelling landing page lays out the offer and the benefits.

It was surprisingly hard.

I had hoped that Copyblogger would be good – but despite moving much of their content behind an email registration wall, the old landing page is no longer there – maybe they’re so well known that the benefits are no longer needed.

We did find some….

Blogging Concentrated Prime

A subscription service for monthly coaching and education on all aspects of blogging for profit – this page really lays out the details of what a member gets and shows archive material which is also available to each new joiner. The video welcome is a nice touch.

Blogging Concentrated Prime membership area

Tom Poland’s 8020 Center

A totally different approach is used by expert business coach, Tom Poland. He uses a letter form to make a strong offer in the headline and a personal offer – with a guarantee.

Tom Poland’s 8020 Center offer copywriting

EConsultancy and Digital Marketer

Both offering education services to modern marketers, these sites have a near-identical page layout and copy style. Interestingly, the DM list of advisory courses look like individual tiles, but they all go to a letter-style long copy landing page from the founder, Ryan Deiss.

Econsultancy landing page copywriting example

Digital Marketer landing page copywriting example

Got any other examples?

Can Staff Destroy your Brand using Social Media

27 May, 2015/in B2B, B2C, Digital media, Social Media /by Rebecca Caroe

We had a great event with MyHR this morning to answer this question for business owners.

Clue – the answer is “yes”!

The longer answer is that it will probably only be a total destruction if you do not have clear policies in place or if your company has something to hide and is not clearly communicating to customers, staff, stakeholders and shareholders.

The slide decks by Rebecca Caroe and Jason Ennor are below.

Watch the video on the Creative Agency Secrets YouTube Channel.

Any questions – please get in touch. We are happy to offer a free 20 minute phone chat to prospective clients.

Amplify Podcast features Rebecca Caroe

15 May, 2015/in B2B, B2C /by Rebecca Caroe

The blogging concentrated team runs the Amplify podcast and invited me on as a guest last week.

Amplify Podcast logo

We talk about bookmarking services – our favourite ways of saving and sharing web links and also tech companies in #Dunedin.

Listen to the Amplify Podcast episode (25 minutes).

Why appear on Podcasts?

I was curious about how the Blogging Concentrated team used podcasts and other podcasters as an active part of their marketing promotion strategy and tactics.

Dan Morris told me that by approaching podcasters and getting featured on their shows it helps them reach new audiences.

Like Creative Agency Secrets – there are a large potential audience who would like to use our marketing advice but cannot afford to pay or would prefer to implement the marketing themselves. Offering a podcast with tips and advice is a great way to serve this part of your audience.

We have three offers for Creative Agency Secrets – everyone fits into one of these groups.

I want free marketing advice
I want to be trained or coached in how to do marketing
I want marketing to be done for me

Creative Agency Secrets Apple icon

Our entire website is structured around pathways to guide the reader into one of these. Click the apple and orange image on our home page and explore for yourself.

Why accountants teach clients how to switch firms

21 April, 2015/in B2B, Case Studies, Marketing /by Rebecca Caroe

I came across a curious slide deck recently called “How to Switch Accountants” published by an accounting firm. Now why would a firm choose to tell their clients how to move to another service provider?

Thinking more deeply it was immediately clear – this firm was using sophisticated psychology in its marketing. Let me explain

When you’re dating, how do you find good dates?

Think back to when you were actively seeking a life partner. Remember all those conversations with friends when you groaned “All the good looking ones are already with a partner”? or “I just get hit on by the ones I don’t like!”. And of course, once you had found a partner, it seemed that the reverse was true!

Well the same applies to businesses who are courting new clients – those who seem to be desperate and will “go out” with any prospect only attract the ugly ones – yet those who exhibit the reverse characteristics seem to magnetically attract great new clients.

That was what this firm was doing.

Attracting great new clients by showing such confidence by telling their existing clients how to leave. The clients CAN check out other providers, but the firm is so sure that they won’t like what is on offer elsewhere, that they either won’t try leaving or will come back fast.

The slide deck also includes a comprehensive list of questions to ask your new accountant under headings like

Determining they are who they say they are
Meeting your needs now and in the future
Valuing your business – will they stick with you
Staying current

Hats off to Alliott Accountants for having the confidence to publish this marketing tool How To Successfully Switch Accountants.

What can your firm do?

You may not feel ready to publish a similar document. But here are 3 things you can do now to check your own firm’s perception by prospective clients:

Get a friend to ‘mystery shop’ your firm – ring up and see what happens when they say they’re looking to switch accountants. Better still, call at 5.05 pm on a Friday.
Review all the marketing literature you have and see whether it accurately portrays your firm’s services, people, skills and areas of expertise
Do a client survey to see what (un-prompted) actual clients say they think your firm is good at. And does it match 2 above? Also do this to people who stop using your firm so you find out why they switched.

Need accountancy marketing help?

Creative Agency Secrets are experts in accountancy firm marketing. We can tutor you and teach you what to do if you want to do the marketing yourself. Or we can do the firm’s marketing for you.

Learn more and join our free Accountants Marketing Newsletter