Maple Marketing Blog

An easy way to write your Marketing Plan for next year

Have you written down your marketing plans for the new year yet?

If not, don't stress about it and don't over-complicate it. Writing a marketing plan should be fun, not a chore.

If you've got some quiet time at the beginning of the year, start writing down some ideas that you want to try this year.

For a few tips on how to get started, read the full length article here.

Posted 22 December 2012 | 0 comments

How to make your POD more interesting

Identifying your point of difference (POD) is a fundamental marketing practice. Can you clearly tell prospects what makes your product or service different?

The trouble with talking about your difference is that this approach focuses on how you compare to your competitors. Shouldn't you instead be focussing on customers? Shouldn't you be talking to your clients about your points of interest?

What makes you interesting? What makes you relevant? What makes prospects engage with you?

Have you ever been told “oh, that’s different” about a new haircut or outfit? Have you ever described someone by saying “well, she’s different”? If so, you know that different isn’t always good.

So don’t strive just to be different. Don’t focus just on competitors. Think first about your prospects and customers and how you can interest and excite them. Focus on your point of interest (POI).

Posted 26 September 2012 | 0 comments

Infographics – the latest, greatest marketing tool

They’re popping up everywhere – those colourful, quirky, cartoon-like things that everyone from insurance companies and telcos to funky creative agencies are using to get their info across.

Perhaps it's a sign of the times. We’re now so busy (or impatient) that we don’t want to read through plain text. Instead, the visual appeal of an infographic captures our attention and makes it much easier to read through and comprehend large volumes of data, statistics or instructions.

In some ways, they’re a visual executive summary. From a marketing perspective, they’re also an opportunity for a brand to portray its personality.

Here are a few infographics we particularly like:

Thanks to the clever folks at:

http://www.marketingprofs.com/chirp/2012/8776/10-things-we-love-and-hate-about-pinterest-infographic

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/32700/The-10-Best-Marketing-Infographics-of-2012-So-Far.aspx

http://mashable.com/2012/07/09/how-to-create-an-infographic/

Posted 29 August 2012 | 0 comments

The best business advice ever shared

I’ll get straight to the point here. The best advice I’ve ever come across is this: when you write things down you significantly improve – in fact you almost guarantee – the chances that they’ll get done.

I’ve always been a list maker. It’s genetic. My sisters and I used to tease my mom for always having lists. Turns out, she was onto something.

This message has been reinforced over and over again in my business career.

Most recently I heard it from the guys from the Buried Life. If you don’t know who they are, check them out at www.theburiedlife.com or read about them at www.fourhourblog.com, the blog of Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Work Week.

Basically, they’re a group of four university friends who set about accomplishing their list of 100 things to do before they die – before the concept of having a bucket list was on everyone’s bucket list.

So back to the advice... As soon as you write an idea down, something amazing happens. It becomes a project. A project! It takes on a different sense of importance, doesn’t it? All of a sudden you give it more time, more energy, more organisation, and therefore, more chance of success. As the guys say, “Dreams have a funny way of staying dreams. But a project is something that needs to be done.”

And the same is true for your business marketing. We all have ideas. But they don’t get done until first we write them down and, second, we plan how they’re going to get done, when and by whom.

Plans lead to actions; actions lead to results.

So if you don't yet have a written marketing plan, start with a list. Marketing is all about ideas. So write them down and start improving the chances those ideas will get turned into results.

Posted 30 July 2012 | 0 comments

How to win a new client in 5 simple steps

When you meet with a prospect, how much do you tell them about your company, products or services? Alternatively, how much of that first conversation or meeting do you spend asking them questions about themselves?

The sure-fire way to win them over is to spend more time getting them to talk about themselves and their needs.

Here in a nutshell is what that first conversation should include:

1. Ask your prospect what problem(s) they need solved.
2. Help them identify why they still have the problem.
3. Help them imagine how life would be different if the problem was solved.
4. Offer your solution.
5. Tell them what to do next; provide a call to action.

So the next time you’re talking to a prospect or a potential new client, ask them what their biggest problems are, what keeps them up at night. Listen to their complaints. If you focus on that, and are able to provide a cost-effective solution, chances are you’ll get the sale.

Read the full length article here.

Posted 30 June 2012 | 0 comments

A new look for Maple Marketing

Thanks to the talented folks at The Fount, Maple Marketing now has a new website and new branding that are more in line with where the business is at after six years of growth.

You’ll see throughout the site references to Plan it / Say it / Do it. We’ll elaborate more in future blogs, but for now, let us introduce these as a way to summarise the work we love to do with businesses and the service categories we offer.

Whatever you might be stuck on, please get in touch and let us help.

And please do let us know what you think about our new look!

Posted 29 May 2012 | 2 comments