Ten Obvious Tips for SaaS Marketing

Standing out among a rapidly swelling and roiling sea of SaaS offerings, fulfilling every software niche from AI podcast managers to ML behavioral baselining solutions (or whatever) is going to require an innovative strategy and (likely) a deeper understanding of your audience and the ongoing friendship of your resident Product Marketing Manager. 

However, there are similarities and basic principles we can explore as a foundation for some good working strategies. By way of bullet points (and rocket science, it ain't), the notes for this post were corralled together as part of my visiting lecturer series at Nottingham Trent University in 2013, basically the same but now fluffed a little for 2024. Software as a Service (SaaS) is a cloud-based service model that allows users to access and use software applications over the internet, typically on a subscription basis. In 2013, it was a moderately cutting-edge and a mildly revolutionary thing where I wanted to show that core marketing theories, with a twist, still apply. I’ll leave you to expand on these bullets yourself, but trust me, if it was difficult, I wouldn’t do it for a living.

1.  Audience Understanding

Success begins with knowing your audience inside out. Use analytics, surveys, and direct engagement to uncover their needs, preferences, and pain points. Create buyer personas. Tailoring your marketing efforts to address these specific prospects and their genuine needs and cares can seriously increase any product's appeal and customer satisfaction. What boxes does your SaaS product tick for prospects?

2.   Sell Solutions, Not Features

It’s a classic. No one wants to buy an electric drill; they probably just want a perfect hole. Customers are looking for solutions, not just software. Sell them the perfect hole. Highlight how your SaaS solves problems or improves their life or business. Transform features into benefits in your messaging, making it more relatable and compelling. 

 

3.   Content Rules

Create valuable content that prospects will give a damn about that educates, entertains, and engages your target audience. Blogs, eBooks, webinars, sales support with solution briefs, and videos that address cover the challenges or questions position a brand as a thought leader and build trust with potential patrons.

 

4.   SEO: Your Best Ally 

Visibility is gold, and organic SEO is still an important factor for any content marketing efforts. Bootstrap your site for mobile. Do some keyword research and lovingly roll content in relevant keywords. Use H tags, internal cross-linking, meta descriptions, and court high-quality inbound links with guest-posting and digital PR to increase rankings. For more in-depth advice on this, see my post on SEO in 2024.

 

5.   Harness Social Proof
Testimonials, reviews, and case studies are gold in establishing credibility. The SaaS audience also traditionally loves things like the Garner Magic Quadrant and (sponsored) brand placement in Forrester Reports etc. If you can afford to take part, it’s also good for decent inbound links from reputable and decent PageRank sites.

We can showcase customer success stories and ratings on our website and across social media to build trust and encourage conversions. If you’re one of those industries, like microsegmentation tools, where getting clients to take part in case studies is as rare as rocking horse do-do, get creative with something like this (which I made last year).

 

6.   Prioritize Customer Success 

Beyond acquisition, focus on retaining customers through exceptional support and success programs. Happy customers are more likely to become brand advocates and contribute to organic growth through word-of-mouth. The importance of keeping punters happy and keeping them renewing can’t be overstated for SaaS products.

 

7.   Free Trials and Demos

Offering free trials or product demos lowers the barrier to entry, allowing potential customers to experience the value of your SaaS firsthand. Show ‘em it’s good and get ‘em hooked—if it works from drug dealers in 80s cop shows, it can work for us. Make sure the trial/demo process is straightforward and supported by sales engineers to make the most of conversion opportunities.

 

8.   Pricing Strategy

How is this the job of marketing? A pricing strategy can make or break a SaaS product, trust me. It needs to reflect the value you provide while remaining competitive. It's too expensive; there are plenty of alternatives. If it is too cheap, our skeptical online audience won’t see the value. How about flexible pricing tiers to cater to different customer segments or needs? Be transparent with the cost, and clearly show the ROI. Marketing absolutely should have a say here. Do some competitor research and come to the pricing meeting armed with the facts and a solid solution. 

 

9.   Build a Community
Fostering a community around a product encourages engagement, feedback, and loyalty. Make the most of your own technical/community forums, social media groups, or user events/webinars to create a space for patrons to connect, share experiences, and provide valuable insights for product improvement. Do not underestimate content and community marketing for renewals, as well as new business; this is where we give away our swag and make our evangelists.

 

10. Be Data-Driven
Make the most of analytics to track the performance of marketing efforts—continuously. If you’re not data-driven, even casually, you were dead in 2013, and you’ll be doubly so today. Know what you want to achieve; qualified leads, demo requests, installation documentation downloads, whatever, and measure it religiously. Understanding what works and what doesn't lets us iterate and adapt strategies quickly, meaning our marketing remains effective, agile, and ROI-positive. 

 

By way of inspiration, dive into these tips, and you can not only attract but also retain customers, which is absolutely death-row serious for safeguarding any long-term success for any SaaS business. Who’s demoing the new features and getting the existing customers talking? Who’s answering the FAQs? How are you teasing the next release? How’s the community using the software already?

 

Now, SaaS marketing is an admittedly evolving field that requires a blend of creativity, analytics, and customer-centric strategies—and far more in-depth than the bullets above. This, however, is a starting point and will hopefully get the creative neurons firing. Stay agile, keep learning, and always put your customers at the heart of your marketing labors. 

If anyone wants to buy me a coffee, I’ll be in the refectory.

How to Work from Home Without Going Crazy

Nationwide self-isolation is probably coming. I've revamped this article in the hope it may help.

I've worked remotely from the UK, in the past - with distant company offices in Stockholm, Alaska and Colorado - for many years. I even worked from home and in a virtual world for eighteen-months. I ran my own web design business from 2001 to 2003 from a tiny cabin on a narrowboat in the middle of the Nottinghamshire countryside.

Compulsory viewing so that everyone understands
the dangers of disturbing people when they are working from home.

Here's some basic advice, in the wake of coronavirus and the sudden move to self-isolation and working from home, so that you don't lose all your social skills and avoid going stark raving bonkers within a month.

Keep scheduled and regular core hours

This really is the key to it all: It seems obvious but our bodies are used to what our bodies are used to.

We need a little order and disciple to stay focused. We need to make sure this isn't going to suck for work/life balance. It's a slippery slope once you start working outside of your agreed hours, whatever they are.

It may be that we're working with a company or agency outside of our time zone. This is fine, but we need to set rigid guidelines for our colleagues and clients as to when we're available and when we're not. If we don't we'll end up working all the damn time, or twenty minutes here and there every evening or chairing client meetings at 3AM. After a while, that's just annoying, so setting out clear hours in advance is key.

Set yourself a working routine: "I walk the dog at 8 and start at 9. I have a break at 11 and lunch at 1. I go outside with a coffee at 3.30. I close the laptop for the day at 5.30." Admittedly, in the paraphrased words of Helmuth van Moltke, "No plan survives contact with the enemy", but you have to set a basic framework as you would if you were working in an office environment with others. A light smattering of casual discipline is key to a healthy workday.

Overtime should be an aberration, not a habit. Keep to those hours if you can. Sometimes you will have to meet up with colleges if they work in different parts of the world, but most working days overlap to some degree. If you're self-isolating then you're probably working with people in the same geographic territory (or at least close to your core hours).

I've had this fail, but I've always been happier when it's worked.

As part of this, try to eat and rest at regular times. We need and receive energy in different ways and at different times. Protein and coffee were my go-to's. Cheese omelette (the power of working from home) and a pot of filter will keep you more alert than carbs.

Working late and not getting enough sleep is the mind-killer. Lack of rest is the little-death that brings total obliteration. Get away from the blue light of your monitor or mobile device at least 2-hours before you plan to hit the sack.

Have a set space in which to work

It could be a spare room, an open roll-top desk, a standing space against shelves in the corner, the exclusive daytime use of the potting shed, or whatever. Having your own workspace means, soon enough, you switch into work-mode when you're there.

Keep distractions to a minimum

Home is full of other shit you could be doing. It's a hotbed of outlets for procrastination. There no harm in hanging up some laundry, or whatever, but do it when you have a scheduled break.

I particularly liked using the slow cooker in the winter. By 4PM the house smells ace and dinner's on the way with the illusion of not having cooked it - which also saves the temptation to start it early.

I know some people who work with a TV on and some who work with music. Some people don't find this a distraction - I don't particularly - but some people do, so just see how you go and, if you do, scarp that and enjoy the focus that comes with peace and quiet. Sometimes I've worked with an open Skype channel between myself and other colleagues, 3 or 4 at a time, with mutual music.

Don't start doing the dishes or folding sheets if you're not on one of your scheduled breaks.

Stay connected: Use face-to-face meeting software

Getting face-to-face with your clients and/or other staff is important. It keeps communication flowing and gives us a reason to put on pants (except on Wednesdays, when it's custom to go without - long story).

Using the likes of Google Hangout, Skype, Skype for Business, Slack Video, Zoom, Facebook Live, YouTube Live and Microsoft Teams all have their merits, limitations and maximum numbers of participants. You'll probably need a decent mic and headset combo (covering both ears, not just one, then you can still stream your tunes and be ready if you get a call) plus a webcam if you don't have one built-in. The investment is well worth it.

Face-to-face means we communicate better. It allows for body language. It's more to-the-point and it seems to humanise people. Screen sharing is possible, so technical points are clearer and more easily explained. They give just enough one-to-one contact to make a real difference in long-term communications and relations.

Keep active

Got a walking machine or exercise bike? Remove the drying laundry from it and blow off the dust - just twenty-minutes a day will make a MASSIVE difference to you well being, mentally as well as physically.

Dogs are ideal, for everything, cos, dogs, but anything that will get you out - even just as far as the garden or patio - will blow some cobwebs away, help you focus on something further away than your monitor and freshen up the fug of not leaving the house.

I have puppers which need walking flu or not, and I live out in the middle of nowhere. Obviously, dogs will have to learn to use the garden or be walked at night for a few days in the advent of self-isolation. Dogs are ideal motivators and also give one that tiny bit of interaction that separates one from those languishing at Her Majesty's pleasure in solitary confinement.

Brush your hair and get out of the bathrobe and slippers

Keep your self-respect. It's easy to just potter about in leisure pants (or no pants - see Wednesdays) and a hoodie avec breakfast stains, but that's not going to help motivate you, keep you productive or encourage you to keep a working and efficient order in what you do.

Just because others may not see you doesn't mean this isn't important. Clean clothes - clean leisurewear if you must - but make sure you're crumb-free, shaved (if appropriate) and change daily, including after exercise.

As an aside, however, done properly this is the perfect time to grow that novelty facial hair you've always wanted to experiment with.

Getting in to the pattern from day one is a great practice that means your always ready for an impromptu client meeting and stay fresher and more awake just by keeping your standards up. I'm not suggesting a suit and tie, but personal grooming is all about self-respect and positive attitude. Let it go and it's a slippery slope - before you know it your sat in your underwear and a bathrobe at 5PM and "Can't see the point in getting change now cos it's nearly bedtime..." I found a morning shower, before a stroll with the pooch, was a natural and normal excuse to put on clean clothes and have a shave. Just like my normal office-bound work day. Maybe this is something you'd prefer to do later on, to separate the workday and evening?

You might think "That's kinds disgusting and it won't happen to me" but seriously, the next thing you know you've not had a haircut for 8-months and you have toenail fungus - I've honestly seen it happen to perfectly respectable former colleagues and others (especially when we worked remotely in virtual worlds).

Set targets for yourself. Get results

Regardless of professional targets like deadlines, set some personal goals. I once decided to walk across America, while stood at my desk. This is, admittedly, a bit extreme but I was well on my way from Delaware to California (having completed some 480 miles in 3-months on my walking machine) before my job changed and my standing/walking desk was no longer a practical factor.

I also learnt PPC when it was in its infancy, got pretty damn good at Premiere Pro, learn the basics of 3D Studio Max, rediscovered painting D&D miniatures, built a Meet-Up community for digital marketers, started podcasting for myself (see the now dormant Dirty WHOers and Yank & Limey) and wrote a lot of articles in the online press on digital marketing and networking online.

Personal projects, done in personal time, expand the mind and skillsets. It's essential when we don't have as much external motivation from colleagues/clients etc., that we still keep an active interest in learning and in personal project-driven activities.

It's conceivable this could be something more immediate, like building foundations for a new greenhouse or repairing an old motorbike, but I found that anything motivational that separates work from playtime is important for our mental well being when we're 'locked-in' to one location. Also, your not gonna wanna get too physical with flu symptoms.

Keep out of the way of your partner

Does your housemate or partner already work from home or do they have a day off mid-week?

Approach with caution. They're used to having this time and space and you're about to come crashing into like The Dukes of Hazard. They probably don't want you disturbing their routine, despite how nice they may say it'll be a first, so just go softly. I get it, and when I'm working I'm concentrating. All the best will in the world and love in the heavens doesn't mean I want my train of thought breaking to be given a kiss or told about something the cat just did.

If you're both suddenly quarantined then make sure you have your own working spaces. Hot desking or sharing the kitchen table will just get annoying - trust me. Also, it's much nicer to get back together and value your time after work's done and dusted.

Online ordering is your friend

You're gonna need tissues, food, plenty of fluids, take Paracetamol (if they're not panic bought out of existence) to treat aches and pains and lower your temperature.

Amazon usually provides, but give those smaller local companies a call and they might deliver - a lot of the bigger supermarkets will deliver a week's worth of chicken nuggets and beans or quinoa and whatever the hell goes with quinoa for a fiver these days.

Make sure, if you live as remotely as I do, to order more fuel oil and pre-cut wood as you'll be using more fuel by staying at home.

One idea might be to print out a note that says "Self Isolating. Please knock loudly and leave parcels by the door." A biohazard symbol makes for a nice extra flourish.

Also, occasionally, treat yourself - even if it's just to a posh takeaway. For a while you're your own HR dept., make the most of it.

Hope that's a help to someone. Keep a structured day and you should be grand. Don't annoy your housemates and keep active. It should only be for a few weeks, not years, so you should be fine.

I do wonder how many self-styled ‘digital gurus’ will suddenly have ‘remote working expert’ appear, as if by magic, on their LinkedIn profile in the coming weeks.

Good luck and get well soon 😉

How to Find Your Unique Selling Point and Brand Story

I'm head of colouring-in at a large workshop design and automotive equipment supply firm.

When I started 12-months ago I didn't know the first damn thing about tyre changers, wheel balancers, ADAS calibration, wheel alignment or how Porsche liked to have their workshop tiles laid out - but now I do. In fact, it's my round-one Mastermind specialist subject.

Coming to a technical topic like this I was tasked with making our portfolio stand out from the heard. I needed to know the story points in order to be able to tell the story. Here's how I've done that and how I found the unique selling point of us, as a brand, and the equipment and services we provide.

Make a competitors list.

Start off by checking out your competitors and make a big damn list of what you do differently. Hit their website. Look at what terminology and imagery they use. What are they trying to say and how are they trying to say it? What makes you, and what you do, different? Is it quality? Is it variety? Who is their market? What strengths are they highlighting? What sets you apart?

Emotional needs.

An emotional need can be clarified as a craving that, when satisfied, leaves you with a feeling of happiness and contentment. When unsatisfied, it leaves you with a feeling of unhappiness and frustration. This need (B2C) can be anything from the aspirational ownership of a pair of Manolo Blahniks to having more free time, from the love of your partner/dog/child/parent/hobby to the satisfaction of a job well done.

Make another column on your list and (from your customer's perspective) think about which emotional need is being directly met by your product or service. Some customer persona work might be needed here, to identify the core motivation of the folks who hold the purse strings or make the purchase decisions. Some good, solid, trolling through industry website and having an eye to what the overall business environment wants or how it is changing can help.

With B2B emotional needs, it may be something as simple as "We need to make more money," "We need to sell more Widgets," "We need more footfall," "We need to save time," or "We need to be ready for a legal change in our industry."

Get hands-on.

This is, in my opinion, the most important thing that will help you towards the realisation of your unique selling points.

You're gonna have to put some effort in.

Whatever it is you sell or provide, go and get up to your elbows in it. Go to trade shows. Go to demonstrations. Get the sales team to go over whatever it is, in-depth. Stand in front of the product. Walk around it. Learn how to use it. Imagine you're doing an explainer video and sketch out the storyboard. Get inspired.

I can't emphasise how important this is, especially in an industry like mine where we're talking installations and pieces of technical equipment worth tens of thousands.

Find the time and treat yourself to a training montage.

If I hadn't stood in front of one of our pieces of kit at a trade show, next to lots of similar equipment, I would never have realised it's size - it's footprint being much smaller than that of the competitors - meaning it was perfect for crowded tyre bays and workshops where space is at a premium. That's that particular machine's USP. Finding it, I had to stand in front of it and see it for myself.

You may have a product, like ours, which is large and unwieldy and where the USP may not be apparent until completion or installation. The story (USP) isn't always obvious. You'll need to follow it through the product journey.

Ask questions. Watch the demonstration teams. Hang around in the workshop and training centre. Video it. Learn how to do it yourself. Sit down with the directors and designers and ask questions. Walk the shop floor. Script it. Is it quick? Is it accurate? Does it come with upsell potential for the customer? Can it do two things at once? Is it cheap? Is it gold-standard? Again, how does it fulfil a possible need?

Grab Your Highlighter.

Ok, grab something fluorescent and let's underline the things on your list that your competitors can't replicate or imitate. Where are the current gaps that are going to make you stand out? Get a different colour and highlight anything that that they can't easily copy or reproduced.

Now we're getting somewhere. If not, go back and repeat everything above and spend more time with the product - an epiphany WILL come. Eventually.

What's in it for them?

It's critical to state, clearly, the benefit to the customer.

Key phrases.

Have a go at fashioning some phrases about your unique service or product that are clear, punchy, concise and hit those core 'truths' that make you different. Go over your list and pull out any keywords and phrases. Make them into factual sentences, with emotion. Back them up with facts and stats as necessary. Make sure these can be easily read and totally understood by your potential customers. Write it in their language.

Us as an example.

We have a mantra for our brand: Workshops of the Future. ™

It says that we're the future (obviously). It says that we're more forward-thinking then our competitors. It intimates that we're ready to embrace the likes of automated vehicle workshops, electric vehicle servicing, calibration of advanced driver-assistance systems. It says that we do things differently. It says 'cutting edge'. It helps to set us apart from the 'others'.

We design, supply and install premium garage equipment for many of the world’s most exclusive automotive brands - and we have to show our customers that we're ready to give them what they need as the market changes. We combine product expertise with a dynamic approach to ensure their workshop facilities reflect the impeccable standards of the vehicles they maintain, so our content, imagery, attitude, facilities, messaging, everything, has to be able to mirror that (and the quality they expect).

It also tells our client base - the likes of Maserati, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Porsche, etc. - that we're ready to give them what they need for the next decade and beyond. We know regulations, manufacturers specifications/standards and how to embrace the petrol and diesel ban being introduced in 2035 (or possibly earlier). This 'attitude' and offer makes us stand out in an industry that, on the surface, doesn't seem as dynamic or glamourous as it is in actuality - there's a lot of Porsche and Jaguar Landrover showroom openings to go to as marketing manager. We've laid out our stall and committed to our unique selling point. This is our brand story.

After establishing the overall brand I went more granular and took a deep-dive. The overall brand is relatively simple compared to the USPs of individual pieces of equipment and departmental services. The story they tell may be one that fulfils the needs of reliability, the quest for and importance of accuracy, OE standards/quality, seamless ease, repeatability, longevity, time/space/energy saving, or a whole different need and want our clients may have.

Everything has a story, it's just a matter of finding it.

In conclusion.

No matter what your product or service just stop and look and think about the problems and industry needs that you (as a brand) and your individual service or product solves for your future clients.

Again, I can't emphasise how important it is to get hands-on and out in the field. Involvement is the key to understanding. Stories don't write themselves.

Boom.

How to Make Your Agency Hireable

Well, it's been a fair few months since I moved role and went clients side. It's been busy, but interesting.

What have I been doing? I moved house and job, rebranded a multi-million-pound company - including assets ranging from new livery on fifty vehicles and every bit of stationery and stickering, to a full website rebuild and creation of our new identity in line with our brand traits and goals. I've launched several exclusive (and major) product ranges into the UK market (from Italy and Germany) plus relaunched all their social channels (adding 1,000s of new organic followers onto their LinkedIn). I launched tens of grands worth of automotive-specific PR campaign, shot numerous corporate and explainer videos and toured half of Europe at tradeshows and supplier factories (while raising my knowledge of our suppliers' products and our market). It's been busy, but probably not quite as busy as agency life.

Not being agency side I've had less reason to put digits to the keyboard by way of this blog. I've not been short, however, of valuable and interesting interactions with agencies where I feel any of my regular readers might benefit from some of my experiences. I am, after all, now the CLIENT and not the agency departmental head. This has made me realise how our industry looks at us (or is it them?) from a new perspective.

I'll take this slowly. Let's start with...

Hiring an agency.

Guess what? Your job (as an agency) is to make my job (as Senior Marketing Manager of the largest independent workshop design, installation, supply and equipment providers in the UK) easier. It's to make ANY clients job easier. This was evidently a shock to some of the agencies I interviewed. I don't want to sound preachy here, just cautionary and this is purely based on observation. I spend my first month in the job recruiting. The reaction - and I'm spending hundreds of thousands of pounds here - was mixed to say the least, ESPECIALLY (and I hate to say this) from digital and creative agencies.

I work for a family-run engineering company in East Yorkshire. We don't stand on ceremony. Our clients are high-end brands like Maserati, Audi, BMW, Porsche, Lamborghini, Jaguar Land Rover, etc. Our clients have high standards and so do we. We don't have time or inclination to listen to you fluff yourself or to wade through forty pages of cut and paste before we get to the costs and our KPIs. We don't want to listen to you talk in your language, we want you to talk in ours. We're made of engineers, CAD designers, petrol heads, technicians, racing drivers and every single one of us (myself included) could fix a 2.25 Series 2 petrol engine with a bent chocolate screwdriver and half a house brick. Our company is purpose-driven, entrepreneurial at heart, and built on a few core beliefs. To say that we're 'no-nonsense' is probably a staggering understatement.

The rest of the company is certainly not used to dealing with the likes of creative, digital, branding, PR or marketing agencies - which is why they employ me. Many of the stakeholders are openly sceptical. A part of my job, by necessity, had to become filtering the agencies I spoke to in order to find which were capable of working with us, above and beyond their creds or skillset. Who can talk like we talk? Who can understand the needs of our business and our industry? Who can adapt? Who can speak in plain English and offer identifiable results? Who at least has BDMs and account managers with a foot in both worlds? To be honest, it was a fairly shallow pool.

Having decided early on that a rebrand was one of my first steps, I started by putting feelers out and looking at local agencies in the Yorkshire area, including Leeds. Branding and creative agencies have their own language and attitude. It's a part of what makes them who they are and promotes the creative process. Individuals in such agencies, however, are invariably inappropriate to put in a board meeting with sceptical accountants and engineers from Hull. I found it amazing that, despite clearly working across multiple markets and discipline, most of them didn't use account managers or BDMS, but rather sideways-promoted existing staff or directors (steeped in the creative language and process). I'm sorry to say that I repeatedly got the impression - justified or otherwise - that, despite making £14m last year, we were somehow beneath them.

The branding and creative agency we finally chose is based in Leeds and, immediately, gave the impression they understood our industry. Their website was specifically tailored to manufacturing, engineering and B2B - which was an immediate draw. They'd drunk from their own vat of grape-flavoured drink and embraced a specific market. They'd made the conscious decision to not be all things to all men. When a branding agency pitches themselves this way you know it's a deliberate decision and you know they can clearly do their job.

Side tip: Don't be (yet another) a full-service agency - show your strengths and specialisms - you can upsell later once they trust you. Few folks have funds to spend on everything at once anyway.

I was met in their offices by one of their Directors who had given me a stalk on Twitter, found I'm a self-identifying coffee snob, and took me out for the best brew in the area. I'm not quite that easy, but it got my attention. I laid out our requirements and he engaged and asked questions. He'd visited our site and social channels. He'd looked at our Directors LinkedIn profiles. In many ways, he'd prepared for our meeting as though he'd prepared for an interview - which, in many ways, was exactly what was happening. He asked the early questions. He asked about time scales. He asked if I had buy-in from our directors. He asked about possible roadblocks. He was interested and curious. He was prepared to give us what I wanted - a single page Chinese menu/flowchart of tasks highlighting the process, with descriptions and costs. Simple and easy to print out and share when the time came for me to secure internal funding. He was making my life easier.

Within two days we had that page, their creds, and a further explainer (if we wanted to read it) of each part of the process. No free pens, branded moleskin notebooks, or other bollocks. This was all presented in a video (with screen sharing) from their director (my contact) and via their offices, to ease the process and introduce the document. A great balance of functionality, information, presentation and face-to-face efficiency. Yes, it was a formula, but it was a good formula.

We also had an offer of a presentation on the process, live, with our directors and stakeholders. This would be the first step for many into the branding and creative process, discussing the value (hidden and deliberate) of the process. We took them up on this and our directors got a lot from it and truly realised the value of branding above and beyond what I could explain to them from my passing knowledge.

Out of the twelve companies I met face-to-face, they were the only ones which gave me any form of confidence that they would go the extra mile to understand our business. No other agency I met even came close to this level of service and interest. To be honest, on the whole, I got a general impression that people weren't interested, and we just weren't stimulating or glamorous enough to be beneficial to their portfolio. They felt lazy and (one in particular) bored. They liked the sound of our turnover but, basically, didn't try to have a foot in our world. Again, I come back to looking for an agency who is going to make my job easier. An agency is not doing me a favour by letting me into their creative club - I need them to provide a service.

1) How does one achieve this? Firstly, employ a competent front person to lead sales and customer liaison. Have an individual who can have a foot in both worlds - in that of the client and that of their colleagues. Unless the client specifically wants to meet the team, they don't care - show us your developments and results. We're unlikely to actually care about your hipster culture (says the former agency proto-hipster). We will, however, probably want to meet your office dog if you have one.

2) Make things easy. Have a summary page with titles, descriptions and costs. Expand on this elsewhere, but keep it easy to digest - we're not stupid but we are short on time and have another six or eight of these pitches to go through.

3) Give the client clear steps. Think of the creative process like a flow chart with investigation, content, decisions and dependencies. Assume the client isn't an expert but has a broad knowledge. Use clear language and avoid using your own industry terms unless you explain these to the client in person (you can't rely on them reading a glossary). Surely there's an easier way to say "We build omnichannel marketing personalisation to foster brand trust" that doesn't make we want to set your offices on fire?

4)  Pricing is always important. I was quoted £750 a day for link building - for what is, essentially, unguaranteed and 'nebulous' results? No, no matter how good you might think you are. We have to justify and/or get clearance on our budgets. Keep it real. Equally, underpricing makes people sceptical that you have relevant contacts or experience. Be realistic.

5) Old colleagues. If you know you can trust people - maybe you've worked together previously in an agency or on a different contract - you ask them to pitch. It's not 'jobs-for-the-boys' (or girls) it's a case of familiarity, known compatible process and giving competent folks the opportunity to pitch. This is how we ended up working with our current SEO and PPC agency. They also explained their process and the theory of digital marketing to our directors and stakeholders, in person, at no charge to promote clarity and value. Stay in touch. Send Christmas cards. Offer to be of help. Be excellent to each other. If you're good I'll use you again and put a word in. LinkedIn recommendations all 'round. It makes my life easier.

It's pretty basic really... Be a benchmark for things to come. Make your future customers' lives easier. Be competitive. Don't treat them like an idiot but don't over complicate things.

If this is of use to anyone let me know. I'll add bits to the blog as I see them from client-side and try to keep this a bit more up-to-date. Considering what we've achieved in the last six months I can't really say it's been a relaxing experience, but it's not as 'all-hands-to-the-pumps' as my former ten years in agency.

Anyway, I'd rather be busy than bored.

Why is Facebook Organic Reach Dying off?

In case you’ve not noticed Facebook seems to have bottlenecked organic traffic of late, to our precious Business Pages. Rumours are rife that Facebook wants our ad money so it’s stopping our possible customers from getting to see what we’re putting out there. This is actually pretty unjust and the facts are a lot less sinister, but just as troubling for those of us relying on our customers finding our content through the platform. It’s a simple case of numbers and algorithms.

doesn't seem fair - but appearances can be deceptive

There isn’t space for everything in our newsfeeds, so Facebook uses an algorithm called EdgeRank to try to calculate what we want to see most. This mostly works, though does make for a bit of an insular experience that, long term, rather stifles what we see and who we see it from. Ever noticed how some friends disappear out of your feed if you don’t keep chatting to them? The same is true when it comes to people engaging with brands, and unless you’re publishing something pretty kick-ass or got a dedicated niche following than that’s invariably the case. The important basics are like this:

Time: Was it posted recently? The fresher the better.

Weight: Different things have a higher ‘value’, so the likes of ‘images’ and ‘video’ seem to rank better than just links or simple comments. It seems the more effort you put in, the better the content ranks.

Affinity: What’s the relationship between the ‘edge’ and the user? Has the user commented on, liked, shared, or whatever, things from the brand page before? The more the better and different actions have different values. Probably.

The problem is simple. If people don’t interact then they don’t get to see your content further down the line. Interest drops, and it’s hard to rekindle once it’s gone.

try something different

Obviously this makes the likes of Facebook promoted posts more valuable. If you post good strong content, asking poignant questions or with details of small sweepstakes or competitions, this can rekindle a flagging follower-ship. If you do, remember consistency is key and you’re going to need to commit to your Page to get the community active again. It won’t do it by itself and you’ll need to get them sharing and liking again by giving them creative, humorous, and edgy content suitable for doing so. Something for your followers to get their teeth into.

In many ways I approve of this, at least for now. It encourages good quality content and creativity. It does raise the question, however, of how long Facebook can support using this system? In many ways this is leading to the stagnation of the platform if we just see content from the same people, and may even lead to it’s eventual downfall.

Regardless, for now this is just how it is. Let’s work it the best we can.

One decent solar flare and we’re all out of a job anyway.

4 Pieces of Advice for Starting out in Digital Marketing

My Dad gave me 4 pieces of advice when I was young. If you know my Dad you'd know he's a bit 'special', all be it in an awesome way. They were as follows:

• Never fall in love from behind.
• Don't set fire to yourself.
• Never play cards with a man who has the same first name as a city.
• Never drop a baby boy on his head...

I rest my case.

I was thinking about this the other day, having just narrowly avoided setting fire to myself, and I thought about applying this to what I do and wondered what 4 pieces of trite advice I'd give to younger folks setting out into the work in on-line marketing. I have no offspring of my own, which is a plus for humanity, so here we go:

“The more difficult something is, the more rewarding it is in the end.”

1) Go Back to Basics
The brand is the core of everything... 90% of the old pillars of marketing still work in the digital realm, though admittedly with a twist or two. Simple branding is the core of all businesses. B2B, B2C, big, small, whatever. Just because we work in digital doesn't mean this is something we can ignore. If you want the edge in what's now a growing and competitive area, you need a proper brand strategy (more than you need air).

Your brand is your promise to your customer, and your internal and external guidelines for communication. It's what sets you apart from the competition, and it's what tells your clients what they can expect from your and why they should trust you to provide the goods and services they need in exchange for their hard earned dollars.

Every damn thing you do comes from your brand strategy. Without it you can't even identify the key messages you'll be communicating about the product or service. Your voice, your distribution channels, what images you use, your motivations, where you concentrate your efforts, how you word your content, the lot. Frankly, you can't do an effective job without having a strong foundation to build on, and that means being comfortable with how we do the basics.

2) Remember you Know Jack, and Shit (and Jack left town).
Marketing is an agile process, or should be. Looking at the figures will give you insight.

Never presume you know how the target demographic will react. Make sure everything is measurable, and keep measuring it to see if it works. If it works, why? If it doesn't work, fiddle with it or scrap it.

Don't be afraid to make mistakes, but learn from them when you do. Get a bit nerdy about numbers, but don't let it stifle your creativity.

3) Be Bloody Amazing
Boring is, well, boring.

The best people I know (at what we do) have a drive to learn all the time. They are a little bit obsessed, at the exclusion of a lot of other things, about using what they know and about leaning more.

They are polymaths. They have a myriad of interests, skills, and obsessions. They suck up information like a Dyson does dust bunnies. They read industry blogs and feeds. They tweet, and listen to industry influencers. They write, and force themselves to learn as they do. They experience life by going to conferences and talking to other like-minded peeps. They travel, or go to the theatre, they go on courses or to conferences, or love cinema, or create in virtual worlds. They produce video, or audio, or write, or mentor. They seek the opinion of others and amalgamate ideas into something greater than the sum of it's parts.

Truly dynamic people, who stimulate debate, and action, and put IN to the Internet (we still spell that with a capital 'I', right?) have the ideas - and for many of us this doesn't come naturally. These are the people who are more than just consumers of other peoples data. They pro-actively contribute, and learn in the process. You have to work at it at first, but once you start the ball carries on rolling.

4) Get Sign-off From the Client
I've worked in agencies, or for organisations with multiple stakeholders, for most of my working life. I've learnt this one from my own folly and from watching the folly of others. I'm serious here.

Get them to sign the initial contract. The design doc. The brand messaging doc. The keyword research. The marketing plan. Every damn thing where a decision is involved that will impact the final result. Most importantly, get them to sign to say the work is finished (based on the original brief they signed to commit to a pre-defined conclusion). No surprises, for all parties.

If it's all signed off it doesn't come back and bite you in the ass, and also avoids feature creep. Remember: If it's signed-off, feature creep turns into up-sell.

Trust me on this last one. In fact, get it as a tattoo.

So there you go. I've been working with a few bright sparks from Agency Life at Manchester Uni. recently, who might find this amusing. Yes, it's all pretty obvious and pretty basic, but so was my dads original advice (which has always stood me in good stead).

Oh, and find a really bloody good accountant...