Discover the secret ingredient to turbocharge your marketing strategy

The ‘secret sauce’ is a game changer when it comes to marketing and business development.

This intriguing ingredient was shared by marketing expert Emma Easton during the EM3 Growth Hub’s recent online workshop - How marketing and business development drives your business.

The straight talking self-styled chief bolloxologist at consultancy firm Business Bollox, who has more than 25 years of marketing experience, is also a lecturer at the University of Winchester’s highly regarded Help to Grow: Management course.

With the promise that the ‘secret sauce’ has the potential to make a massive impact for a business, Emma warned about the dangers of jumping straight into a marketing campaign because you think you know your audience.

“By just jumping in we potentially do our marketing a massive disservice,” said Emma who explained, “the first rule of marketing is you are not the customer, even if you share the attributes of a customer. Our customers are complex - we have to put in a little bit of work to really get to know and understand them.”

This involves taking what is known as the STP approach - segmentation, targeting and positioning, giving clarity to a business’s audience.

“It’s important because it provides the answers to all questions you have which is why I call it ‘the crystal ball of marketing’,” explained Emma.

Emma gave an example of where this approached had helped a client transform their business. By following the STP model Emma brought down the firm monthly advertising spend from £2,500 down to £500, while increasing leads from 30 to 90 better quality leads.

More crucially, despite gaining sales, up until Emma stepped in, the company had been making a loss as it hadn’t considered adding in the cost of sales. Consequently, the business went from -58% to a massive 445% return on investment.

“That transformed their business,” said Emma. “Not only is that work bringing them an amazing funnel of business they are also looking at significant growth because the marketing was done properly.”

Joining Emma in the workshop was Paul Bennett, from the University of Winchester Business School spoke about the Help to Grow: Management course, describing the 12-week course “the best kept secret in management development in the country today.”

He explained that while the Government covers 90% of the costs for the programme, the university is sponsoring the remaining 10% so it is free for businesses based in the EM3 region – north and central Hampshire and west Surrey.

“The course is totally free apart from making a commitment to the programme,” said Paul. “It’s a great programme – it’s not onerous and it’s probably got every subject you would do if you did an MBA. The most important part of the programme is that you are learning with your peers – every participant is an owner or leader of a business that wants to grow.”

Watch the full webinar by clicking on the YouTube image below:

Sign-up here for the EM3 Growth Hub’s series of free in-person and online workshops, running until March 2024, to help drive growth in your business.