Marketing

How Do Lobsters Grow? Getting Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable In Marketing

June 22, 2023 By yourvirtualcmo Leave a Comment

🦞 How do lobsters grow?

Ok, so this has nothing to do with marketing…

…or, maybe, it has everything to do with #marketing. You decide.

Strange question, but I bet you are curious. I was when I stumbled across a video that explains it well. Either way, this short video struck a chord with me.

“The stimulus to be able to grow is to feel uncomfortable!”

For anyone feeling stressed in any capacity, this perspective could be just what you need to hear today.

If you work in marketing or run a small business, you’ll already know that you need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable to #grow and succeed.

It may have everything to do with marketing, after all!

How Do Lobsters Grow? And why does this have everything to do with marketing!

6 Ways To Maximise Your Marketing Impact Before EOFY

June 14, 2023 By Jeannette Borg Leave a Comment

A Guide for Small to Mid-sized Recruitment Agencies in Australia

With just over two weeks left until the end of the financial year in Australia, it’s time for recruitment agencies to buckle down and tackle their marketing tasks to set themselves up for success in the upcoming financial year.

Here are six essential items to check off your marketing to-do list before the new financial year begins.

Review Last Year’s Performance Against Forecast

Take a deep dive into last year’s sales performance and expenditures, comparing them against the budget forecasts. Analyse the factors that influenced those results to gain valuable insights for developing a S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) forward-thinking strategy.

Consider Your Marketing Headcount

Evaluate whether your current marketing resources, whether in-house or outsourced, align with your growth plans and targets. Do you have sufficient, adequately skilled and experienced staff in place to execute your marketing plan effectively? Has your business grown to a point where you need a dedicated marketing resource and/or a higher level of strategic planning and execution?

Analyse the Market

The past few years have brought significant external factors that have shaped various industry sectors, presenting both opportunities and threats. From natural disasters to a global pandemic, supply chain disruptions, and fluctuating interest rates, the world and the behaviour of consumers have transformed. In many cases, the industry sectors that recruitment agencies support have also been impacted. To ensure informed business planning and forecasting, it is crucial to have a thorough understanding of these changes and adapt your marketing strategy accordingly.

Get Your Marketing Budget Signed Off

Take proactive steps to plan and ensure you have a well-considered marketing budget that aligns with your sales goals and overall business objectives. Carefully map out your marketing plan so that the initiatives you will need to deliver your business goals are financially supported. Doing so will allow you to hit the ground running, gain stakeholder support, and avoid disappointments or roadblocks from the finance department. No one likes to hear “We didn’t allow for it in this year’s budget”, least of all those responsible for hitting those sales targets!

Find Out What Tax Concessions You Can Claim

Uncover potential tax concessions you may be eligible for, ranging from new website development and software investments to social media advertising. It’s always advisable to consult a qualified accountant to ascertain the specific deductions applicable to your business. Being informed will allow you to maximise your marketing planning.

Convert Google Universal Analytics to GA4

Stay ahead of the game with data analytics and marketing insights for your organisation. With Google’s Universal Analytics set to sunset on July 1, it’s crucial to switch to GA4 promptly. This transition will ensure your business remains at the forefront of leveraging data analytics for optimal marketing outcomes.

By addressing these six important marketing tasks before EOFY, small to mid-sized recruitment agencies can set themselves up for success in the upcoming fiscal year and beyond.

If you are a small business or startup needing assistance with any of the above, we can help! Please reach out to Jeannette Borg at Your Virtual CMO via email: hello@yourvirtualcmo.com.au.

Igniting Ideas: When a marketing idea circles back

November 13, 2020 By yourvirtualcmo

Have you ever recommended a concept or strategy that has been presented back to you as an original idea at a later date?

From a marketing consulting standpoint, when this happens I see it as a win. After all, isn’t the premise of selling or sparking interest in any concept (idea, product, service) built upon the notion that, first of all, someone needs to be aware of that concept?

And when that concept circles back to you it means it has resonated. Bingo!

Getting to a point that someone desires that concept is usually a result of repeated exposure to that idea, or to an associated pain point. Sometimes it’s built upon seeing others succeeding, upon discovery through research, or positive reinforcement from influencers. But recurring exposure to that concept is key before reaching that ‘a-ha’ moment.

Now, where did that idea come from? And does that matter?

Whatever the reason, and no matter where the idea came from, if your audience get on board with it you are one step closer to achieving the goal – yours or your client’s. After all, as marketers we’re in the business of stimulating and nurturing ideas through to achieving a desired outcome.

Sometimes all it takes is having the right person to spark that idea.

Now, there’s an idea!

Looking for marketing ideas or help bringing your ideas to life? If you need ongoing strategic marketing consultancy for your small-medium business, Your Virtual CMO can help. We provide on demand marketing for startups and SMEs. Email us at: hello@yourvirtualcmo.com.au.

#marketingconsultancy #virtualcmo #ondemandmarketing

Don’t be left behind: 4 ways to up your marketing game in your downtime

May 4, 2020 By Jeannette Borg

Yes, we didn’t see this coming. “Unprecedented” is this year’s overused word of the year.

A pandemic that would stop the world in its tracks and leave businesses and communities scrambling to survive. For those who can or will survive, tough decisions around reducing expenses have had to be made.

Business leaders worldwide have been ruthlessly slashing resources deemed non-essential, at least for the short term: the office plants, the well-stocked bar fridge, the admin support staff, the marketing team, the….

Wait, what? Marketing?!

During tough times, there has always been a tendency for businesses to question the value of marketing.

“What ROI do we get from marketing? Does it really work? Why don’t we have more engagement, followers, leads, etc? Why has competitor X got more Y than us? Our website needs to be more this, our brand needs to be more that. Why? Why not?“

It’s only natural, and reasonable, for questions to be asked when businesses are concerned about the future.

Getting ‘left behind’ is a fear of most businesses, no matter their size.

Right now, it’s not business as usual when it comes to marketing. Several of my clients are recruitment agencies and well, less jobs in the market, means less jobs listed with agencies. It’s a tough time for most recruiters.

Several are using this quieter period to audit elements of their marketing ecosystem. If you ask me, now is actually the perfect time assess and audit your marketing systems to ensure you don’t get left behind when the current situation changes.

Here’s 4 things you should consider:

1: Review your marketing tech stack

Start by taking a look at what you know isn’t working.

What’s causing roadblocks? What are you doing that could be automated, if you just took the time to stop and analyse it? Are you spending on tech systems that aren’t delivering optimal returns? Are you even using your systems to their full capacity, and if not, why? Do your systems integrate?

How proactive are your current tech suppliers in supporting you to ensure you are fully trained and maximising use of their software? Are your tech suppliers innovating in line with industry needs? Is it time for a change – or, is it time to have some frank discussions with your suppliers?

Are you achieving what you need to, and if not, do you have the right systems in place to enable this?

A quieter period of time is the perfect opportunity to reflect on these questions and undertake a full tech stack review.

You can do this with a skilled internal marketer or by engaging an external consultant (let’s face it, sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know, right?!)

Expect to gain insights and recommendations that deliver outcomes that saves you money, time and resources. Not only this, but recommendations stemming from a review will be geared to optimise leads, marketing and sales effectiveness, provide greater business transparency for internal and external stakeholders and ensure data fluidity and accuracy.

2: Conduct a website audit

Your website is a point of validation for customer prospects. When was the last time you conducted a full analysis of your website?

First and foremost, is the content a true reflection of where your business is at today? Is it SEO optimised? What even are your SEO keywords? What CTA buttons are you using and where are they positioned? Broken links? Backlinks? The list goes on.

Websites are too often something businesses set and forget. The website is up. Great! Crossed off the list and on to the next thing. Right?

Wrong!

Your website should always be on someone’s to do list. Your website is something you should constantly be updating with fresh, valuable and optimised content if you want to show up organically in online search.

Use data analytics platforms and tools to help you assess what content and pages are getting the most traction on your website, and to help guide you with clues on how to improve your site.

3: Audit your social media channels and groups

Again, this is something that businesses and their staff often set and forget. Sure, you may be posting new content regularly, but when was the last time you analysed your social media channels?

Are you using the appropriate channels and groups to reach your target audience? What level of engagement are you getting from these channels, and why? Is this engagement feeding your sales pipeline?

How do your company and staff bios read? Are contact details up to date? You’ll be surprised by how many company employees still have their past employer website and contact details listed!

Do profiles reflect your brand personality – or are they full of corporate speak? Do they reflect your brand pillars, your EVP, your brand values? Assuming you have developed those?

Your business’ and your team’s social media profiles provide social proof for current and potential customers. So make sure you invest the time into getting this right as social channels are often the gateway for new business.

4. Training your staff on marketing

When your team are aware of your marketing strategy, what outcomes you are striving to achieve, the role they play in achieving those outcomes, and are provided with adequate training, you’ll have the whole choir singing from the same hymn book, so to speak.

The most successful brands I have worked with invest in building brand ambassadors; training or coaching staff on how to market themselves as an extension of the corporate brand, whether that’s having an internal marketing professional deliver training or having an external marketing consultant facilitate.

Empowering your team to share their voice as a representative of the brand will deliver powerful results. Think about the service brands you engage with. When you engage with those brands online, is it mostly through a human contact at that business, or directly with the business brand. I’m guessing, for the most part, it’s a contact at that business.

Fact: People buy from those they KNOW, TRUST and LIKE.

Your customers have a relationship first and foremost with someone who works in your business. Allow them be the trusted voice. But first, make sure you support them with guidance how to execute the brand message, and empower them do deliver this uniquely and authentically.

Reviewing your tech stack, auditing your website and social channels, and providing marketing training to staff all requires an investment of time and resources. Time and resources that businesses don’t always have, or simply don’t always prioritise. But should your business have some extra time on hand, why not use this ‘downtime’ to up your marketing game.

You’ll thank yourself later.

If you are a small business or startup needing assistance with any of the above, we can help! Please reach out to Jeannette Borg at Your Virtual CMO via email: hello@yourvirtualcmo.com.au.

Happy International Women’s Day

March 6, 2020 By Jeannette Borg

This month marks 1 year since launching Your Virtual CMO, an on-demand marketing consultancy for startups & SMEs.

It’s had me reflecting on the past year; my purpose and goals. When I started out, I committed to working only with business owners and leaders whose purpose, goals and values I could believe in and support, and whose stories I could help to tell authentically. This includes a commitment to diversity.

Half of the businesses I’ve worked with are female founded/ lead businesses and ALL of my clients are committed to building diverse teams, for them and for their clients. This includes some recruiters who play a vital role in assisting their clients to achieve diversity, whilst striving for it within their own businesses too.

So that’s what I’m celebrating this International Women’s Day. Not only have I carved out a way of working that enables me flexibility to have a fulfilling career and also be a (mostly) present mother, but I get to support businesses with values I believe in. And I hope in the process I will demonstrate to my daughters the benefits of living and working with purpose and intent.