Features and benefits are often a nutty problem to crack.  Marketing always sells on benefits not features.  Sometimes that’s easier said than done.

While I was writing the script for my webinar I remembered this financial controller I knew once who used to delight in telling me marketing was fluffy. We used to laugh about it but I’m sure he was convinced that compared to hard figures, marketing was just candy floss.

With Dave Paton from Business Angels Finance International LLP who match businesses to equity and debt funding.   I seem to have talked a lot about money this month.  

I’m a great believer in writing down your goals or in my field, your marketing objectives.  For three reasons:

With Jon Clements from Metamorphic PR who provides professionally managed B2B PR and marketing communications.   Public Relations (PR) is an important area of marketing communications.  Often taken to mean press releases, there is much more to it than that.

  I often ask businesses what are the marketing challenges they face.  It’s always interesting to get a business’s perspective and compare that with my own.   I tend to work with small SMEs who don’t have a marketing manager or director.  For them the main challenges tend to be:

With David Bingle of DDL Group who provide a complete range of direct marketing services.   I was chatting with David the other week about data.  (To marketers data usually means contact data – names, addresses, email addresses etc.).

  There are lots of data providers.  The cost of data varies enormously.  So what do you need to be aware of before you take the plunge?

You’ve probably heard of a SWOT Analysis.  It’s used throughout business not just in marketing.  It’s a simple 2×2 matrix that helps crystallize thoughts and prepare action plans.  I feel it’s particularly useful for measuring up against a competitor, especially when a business is looking to grow.

  With Richard Knew from Knew Productions, a national award winning video production company based near Chester.   I am a real fan of video as a marketing communications tool.  I was talking to Richard about it the other day.