Annual Letter to Clients from Jen Kelly

The team at New Initiatives Marketing Inc. (NIM) and I have the job of supporting the marketing function of a great number of clients.

We are thankful for their trust, and a relationship that often spans years. It is these clients that are at the forefront of my mind as I write this letter.?

The Year Ahead I’ve written three sentences so far, and to be on trend, it is right about now I should say the words… “AI”.?

All kidding aside, AI has been a major force this past year and will only continue to affect and influence us into 2024 and beyond. Clients ask us:?

• how AI can help with marketing?
• does AI generate the content we create for them instead of the writers they've come to know and trust?
• can AI help them do anything faster in their own business?

As for how AI can help with marketing, one of our clients has a really good explanation of how AI helps them with image “clean up” and adjustment. See their blog post here.

As for our content writers, Greg, Amanda, and Ahmed are the ones writing for you, understanding your blog writer interviews, sometimes interviewing you directly, and working to include your voice in each piece of content they write for you. As for how?AI can help us do things faster.

It is important to be testing and experimenting with AI in your own business to see what it can help with. Keep up with the latest promises the promoters make, but test for yourself.

We have found some AI tools to be very beneficial for helping with brainstorming and idea generation. We’ve also tested some other promises AI was supposed to deliver on - such as making business trip planning automatic - we found it to be a disaster (a.k.a. “not there yet”) and we’re still waiting for our connecting flight. ??

If you?think about this AI revolution and the resistance you may feel towards it, does it remind you of past disruptions such as:

• Cell phones (who needs a phone in their car?)
• The Internet (why do we need a website?)
• Social media (only for kids, not for B2B companies ever!)

AI comes charging into our world with all kinds of fanfare and all kinds of resistance. While the stakes are higher than any of these three previous disruptive technologies, I’d encourage you to keep learning and keep on top of where AI could help your business.?

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What we do (a.k.a our approach)

Having marketed through fax campaigns, Internet 1.0, mobile phones, social media, COVID and now, in the thick of AI disruption, one thing we know for sure is that we must keep up with our training and education in order to stay? on top of changes in marketing, practical applications and how to think about marketing for the benefit of business and our clients.?

Our education doesn’t end, we train monthly, and we pass this learning onto you, our clients, by way of recommendations, advice, planning and execution of your marketing.

We’ve chosen to consult on and sell a systematic approach to marketing - marketing as a system. This is a practical approach to marketing.

With?this approach, marketing is a continuous process running year-round,? rather than a one-off campaign every so often.

If you’ve worked with us on your marketing strategy and then have had us implement and execute the strategy, you are well aware of the economies of scale and the benefits of a consistent system supporting each stage of your customer’s journey from absolute strangers not yet knowing about your company, to the repeat buyer happy to provide referrals. When you run your marketing system, it runs like any other system in your company

Systems in your company

Your company either makes or produces a product or a service - you have a system to do that; you have a system to invoice your customers for the purchase of that product or service; if you have people who have helped you produce the product or service you have a payroll system.

Your systems have to run continuously. Your product line runs daily. You invoice your customers as they buy. You pay your people on schedule.

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No system = chaos, lost opportunities

The havoc that would ensue if your daily production line ran only “when you felt like it” if you invoiced only the orders big enough to matter to you and if you decided payroll didn’t need to run every 2 weeks but instead every 2 days or every 6 weeks depending on when you could get around to it - you’d shortly have a mess on your hands.

It’s the same with marketing.?

We often talk with companies who have run their marketing efforts …

• When they felt like it
• Only when they had something to promote
• When the competition showed signs of success and they wanted some of that too.

Any of those three options is too late because the scramble happens:

?? what are we going to say?

?? what are we going to design?

?? who can do this by Thursday?

Then some kind of promotion launches out into the public and the expectation is that everyone waits with bated breath and wallets open ready to buy. When the sales don’t pour in, when the books don’t sell, when the sign-ups don’t occur… the company thinks marketing doesn’t work for them. What really happened is a chaotic approach to marketing doesn’t work, which is why we’re such sticklers for plans, messaging and strategy and being clear about how marketing can support your company’s goals.

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A word about our team

Since our start in 2009, NIM has worked with 156 clients and counting. It’s a number that is small for being in business for 14 years. However, our clients typically stay with us for an average of 3.7 years. Our longest was 7 years. Our shortest was 3 weeks…it happens.?

At NIM, I am the only official employee. The rest of the team runs their own business and has NIM as a client.

It pains me that “non-employee” professionals get lumped in with “side hustle”, “freelancers”, “contractors” with a tone to infer that work or the endeavour they are pursuing is somehow not as good or as reliable as work from an employee. This is simply not the case. The choice to work with expert professionals was set up from day one.

NIM’s delivery supply chain

The professionals delivering for you and advising NIM consist of Canadian, American and Australian small businesses. They are owned by women, men, and non-binary business professionals spanning in age from late 20s to 70s of all ethnic backgrounds. These are motivated and responsible skilled business people who are enthusiastic about their own and their team’s skills and ready to deliver good work.?

These are the writers, web developers/designers, email marketers, social media managers, tech wizards, creative directors, strategists, fractional CMOs, project managers, administrators, advisors, analysts, a bookkeeper, an accountant and graphic designers.?

There are six consistent professionals you’ll see a lot of and a bench of 12? we keep adding to.? Our “bench” is for work we don’t need every day, such as research.?

We need a variety of skills as we want to get you the best possible talent for your work, and not be limited by just the best available locally.

An example of why we need such a range of professionals is illustrated in this scenario: our writer who explains thermal imaging for the oil and gas industry is not the same writer who explains sciatica pain, is not the same writer who explains mobile app development, is not the same writer explaining immigration law.

We get you the best expert for your work. We vet many professionals before they work on your business. As an example, I found one of our writers after testing 42 writers. Some had a funny concept of what a deadline meant, some decided to write about what they wanted instead of the topic assigned, and others never showed up for the interview.?

With NIM, you get the best professionals working on your marketing without the pain, hassle and required time to find the diamonds in the rough yourself.

Our commitment and request

Most of our growth at NIM, I am proud to say, has been referral-based. And I find that our current ideal clients are our best source for finding future ideal clients. Because of this, I have a request. In order to grow NIM, would you help me with any of the following:

• A referral to a North American B2B company that has been in business 5+ years and is ready to get serious about their marketing. Industries best suited for us are: technology, technical services, manufacturing, industrial (electric utilities, oil & gas, chemical)
• A referral to be a guest on a podcast focused on the business of: technology, technical services, manufacturing, industrial
• A referral to an industry association/trade show/conference in 2024 focused on: technology, technical services, manufacturing, industrial (electric utilities, oil & gas, chemical)

With the positioning of Fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) + Expert Marketing Team services, our half-day and full-day workshops, a new website on the way, and us publishing and sharing more information on how to bring marketing into your B2B company, we’re looking forward to growth and continued support of your business into 2024.?

Thank you for trusting NIM. Please reply to this email with any questions or referral ideas.?

Happy Holidays and all the best this festive season.