The Friday Five
"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place."
George Bernard Shaw
I'm always on the lookout for any guidance as to how we as a household and me as a business owner can make changes to ensure that we are doing our bit to reduce emissions and help save our beautiful planet.
I loved this podcast episode on Conversations where?Richard Fidler interviews Saul Griffiths ?about his electrifying mission.
If you haven't yet heard of Saul (I hadn't),?he is an inventor and innovator who has worked for NASA and advised the Biden administration on their climate initiatives package. More recently he has hatched an ambitious plan to decarbonise Australia one suburb?at a time, starting with?his local area of Wollongong.?
In a nutshell, this involves?transitioning absolutely?everything to electricity all powered by renewables and batteries.
Saul espouses that this electric revolution starts in the home and will lead to far cheaper energy costs, as well as creating new jobs, and lucrative new exports.
If you are wondering how you can help save the planet - you could start by listening to what Saul has to say!
How do you let more people know about your business?
A. Post to your social media newsfeed consistently - without any investment in the content
B. Forget Point A and start thinking like a marketer.
There is way more to marketing than simply flogging it out on your social media newsfeed. That's a mildly important part of your marketing ecosystem but it's certainly not all you could be doing ESPECIALLY if you are trying to get in front of many more people to achieve your growth goals.
When I am mapping out a marketing ecosystem for a client, one of the first things I consider is how are we going to get this brand in front of new markets? How can we ensure that the frequency and the context of their awareness is enough to get the relevant customers to notice this brand? Particularly when you consider that we will be competing for our customer's attention in all that prolific white noise!
And as a marketer that began my career just as the world wide web was gaining in popularity, I still have a penchant for relying on good old-fashioned traditional marketing that just bloody works.
Below is an example of three brands that really caught my attention with their outdoor marketing and activations. These examples can be used by small businesses, whether you are based regionally or in a metro area. And they are classic examples of how to get your brand noticed by the masses.
1. The product sample giveaway.
In my quest for inconspicuous photo taking, I couldn't really capture the enthusiasm of the hoards of people sticking their hands out to snavel a couple of free OMO washing liquid capsules. My gawd, as a washing-obsessed mother of three, I was right in there getting my goodies. What a great way to get me trialling this new product. Not all small businesses would be able to afford the Pitt St Mall location, perhaps, but hey, there are plenty of other busy shopping malls in Oz!
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2. The outdoor billboard.
The billboard in the picture is situated at Waverton station in Sydney and I am at that station often as that's where my sister lives, and I stay with her when I'm in the big smoke. It's just got such a catchy call to action that after seeing this poster about 10 times, I gave in and visited the website address. So simple. It inspired me to act, and I engaged in the next step in the marketing journey and engaged.
3. The custom ad wrap.
I saw this ice bin wrapped with the Balter beer branding up in Hastings Point over Easter and I thought, 'that's just bloody clever.' Who goes to the ice bin to fill up the eskies for BBQs, picnics etc? Beer drinkers. That's who. What a bloody great example of thinking about where your customer is and getting your brand smack-bang in front of them.?
If you'd like to be more strategic with your marketing in the next financial year, I can build a customised strategy to help your business stand out and grow.
Passion and experience and high level knowledge are such wonderful things. These characteristics can be so infectious when a professional, who is so clever at their craft exudes them in all of their marketing communication touch points.
However, these attributes can also work against you if you don't take the time to understand that not everyone that you are planning to communicate with has your level of passion, knowledge and experience on your subject matter.
So when you write a blog post, or publish a social media post, or create a proposal that doesn't provide sufficient context or clarity about what the hell you are talking about, then you risk confusing the very people that you are trying to convince.
To avoid creating overwhelm with your communications, remember this; your obvious is not everybody else's obvious.
Click here to learn?four things that you can do to ensure that when you are communicating to an audience, that your message is not only received, it is also understood.
This was one of my Easter long weekend reads - a short story that I devoured in under an hour.?It's a beautiful tale that acts as a parable directed at the well but worried folk of today.
The hero of the story is a character named Bill Furlong, a beautiful man with a troubled past. For anyone who has experienced even the slightest pangs of anxiety, you will relate immediately to Furlongs character as he lays awake trying, but failing, to convince himself that 'all is well' and that his family are 'the lucky ones'. He is restless and he stirs uncomfortably as he tries to reconcile the fortune (and the near miss of misfortune) of his past and present.
While all appears to be well for Furlong by our materialistic standards; house (tick), four healthy kids (tick), successful business (tick), Furlong yearns for more.
Sound familiar anyone?
So Furlong lives in this small town in Ireland that is governed by undercurrents of unhealthy levels of contradicting ideals of the Catholic Church. In this town, the best Catholic school for girls sits right next door to the mysterious Magdalena laundries. Google them.
So we follow Furlong as he makes a discovery where he must choose between turning a blind eye or risking everything he has worked for.
A beautiful story with a powerful message about the origin of true happiness.