Marketing Meanders with Sally and Sam
By Sam Birkett and Sally Green
After years of talking about marketing matters in delightful conversations, we've decided to share some of them with you. If you've ever fancied hearing what marketing looks like on the ground, the pitfalls, politics and prices, then we hope we have a podcast for you. If you're a marketer, you'll recognise some of the stories we tell, and if a small business owner hopefully we'll answer a question or two.
We'd love to hear from you, and if you like the pod please tell others!
Marketing Meanders with Sally and SamOct 09, 2020
44. Automation with Dave Heywood - Part One
In this special meander we talk all things automation with Dave Heywood, a digital marketing specialist at Bovill, and owner of OX7.
We had a glorious two-part conversation about what marketing automation is, when you may or may not need it, how to prepare for its implementation. How do you know if it's working, and assessing whether an unhealthy culture has emerged around it.
Let us know if this has raised any questions for you on automation, tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com.
43. Are you the only marketer in the company?
We've had a nice long chat through some of the challenges of being the only marketer in an organisation, and more importantly some remedies.
Do you agree with us? Sound familiar? Sound unfair? Let us know.
Listen to part one here and part two here.
42. The challenges of being the only marketer in the company - Part Two
We pick up where we left off in part one. In this episode we address building relationships, gaining resources, justifying what you do, taking on board suggestions about marketing from others, whilst delivering on your agenda, and the fine art of saying no!
If you are a lone marketer, let us know if any of our solutions resonate with you, and if you've been in this position previously, why not let us know what worked for you...Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com.
41. The challenges of being the only marketer in the company - Part One
Are you, or have you ever been the only marketer in an organisation? If you are, you'll know of the particular challenges this can present, the expectations placed upon you, the evangelising you need to carry out, feeling a little lonely, and having to cave out marketing's niche. We discuss both the challenges and a number of solutions in our two part episode.
If you are a lone marketer, let us know if any of our solutions resonate with you, and if you've been in this position previously, why not let us know what worked for you...Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com.
40. The politics of marketing - Part Two
What are the warning signs of a looming political battle and how can you head it off? How can the budget help to unite teams and unpick competing political viewpoints in the organisation? Why should you establish networks within your organisation an work hard at transparent communication of your plans to as many people as possible?
You can listen to part one of The Politics of Marketing here.
Are there other important considerations to keep in mind? Let us know Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
39. The politics of marketing - Part One
We talk about the sometimes exhausting world of the politics involved in marketing and organisations generally. the politics which influence the strategy you're able to set out, the operational resources you can utilise and the tactical campaigns you are able to deploy. What are some of the typical political battles marketers encounter? How can we try to get decisions made without the political arguments? How do you face political obstacles and gain agreement? Where and when should you make your boundaries clear, and how can we elevate internal discussions to what matters to the customer?
Are there other important considerations to keep in mind? Let us know Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
38. Budgets, budgets, budgets - Part Two
In part two of our budgets episode we take a look at these questions: When will you look forward to setting up a budget and managing it? Have you considered the human resources you are using? How can you get inventive when budgets are cut and how do budget cuts focus your marketing?
In case you missed part One, you can listen to it here.
Are there other important considerations to keep in mind? Let us know Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
37. Budgets, budgets, budgets - Part One
We need to find some savings in the budget...this is something most of us have heard before, but how do we deal with it? Why is marketing budgeting so important? How do you budget effectively? Who should you be communicating with to produce your budget? What are some of the ways to defend your budget, especially through difficult times? What opportunities can you find when having to be more stringent on your marketing spend?
36. Happy New Year and Outsourcing
Well, as we all settle in to the latest COVID-19 lockdown in the UK, Sally and I are talking about outsourcing in marketing, and in small businesses. When should you consider outsourcing, what should you perhaps outsource, who should you outsource to, and how do you decide between providers? Most importantly, how do you brief suppliers for outsourcing, and how can this represent half the battle won in outsourcing?
Have a listen and let us know your experiences of outsourcing. Have you got examples of when this has gone particularly well, or not so well? Are there other important considerations to keep in mind? Let us know Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
35. PR with Toby Roe - Part Two
And today we pick up where we left off last year with Toby Roe of Roe Communications with our meander on the subject of PR in part two of our episode we touched on these questions: Where is the boundary between PR and content marketing? Can you prove the ROI for PR and what does media training entail?
If you missed Part One you can find it here.
Enjoy!
34. SPECIAL CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR COMPILATION
Welcome to our bumper Christmas and New Year holidays compilation, featuring all of our special guest interviewees from the last few months. Gain some top tips and insights from our array of specialists in one episode. Why not enjoy by the fireside whilst sipping a favourite drink, or on a long winter's walk.
Hear from Toby Roe on PR, James Holden on websites, Hugo Pickering on Marketing Analytics, Emma Wyatt on LinkedIn, Amanda Claesens on Market Research, Barry Clark on Sales Conferences and Stefan Thomas on Networking.
Access the part one of their two part episodes here:
Enjoy and a Happy 2021 to everyone!
33. PR with Toby Roe - Part One
Join us for a two part episode exploring PR with Toby Roe, who is co-founder of Roe Communications with his wife Victoria. Their PR company specialises in PR for Executive Education providers including business schools and leading academics, and they've picked up a host of fascinating insights on PR, organisations and the work between PR and marketing. In part one we look at:
What is PR? How do you plan an effective PR strategy? How does PR differ from marketing, where is the interface, and how do you get marketing and PR to work together? How can PR work most effectively, and why is it so important for organisations to be aligned?
Feel free to get in touch with your thoughts: Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
32. Christmas Compilation Trailer...
Hello All, We'd love you to listen to this one, but also, if you like the podcast, to share it. We've refined down the best of the advice from our guest experts into this special compilation. We'll be releasing it over the Christmas period for you to savour after a festive meal, or perhaps whilst going for a wintry walk. Enjoy, and please do share the podcast with your friends!
31. Networking with Stefan Thomas - Part Two
We pick up the conversation with Stefan Thomas, best selling author of 'Business Networking for Dummies', 'Instant Networking' and 'Win the Room'.
I this instalment we covered How do you get started with networking? When and how can networking pay off? How do you make the most of networking with people right in front of you, even if they don't seem to be your ideal target market?
If you missed part one, you can listen here.
Feel free to get in touch with your thoughts: Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
30. Networking with Stefan Thomas - Part One
We were privileged to have a two part conversation about networking with Stefan Thomas, best selling author of
'Business Networking for Dummies', 'Instant Networking' and 'Win the Room'.
We had delightful discussion around what the real meaning, and practice, of networking is. Why building trust and maintaining relationships is so important. The joy of getting to know people. Why you should identify the networking you are already doing in your life. Making the most out of virtual networking, how do you need to prepare differently to in-person events, what's the same and what are the opportunities? Plus Stefan gives you one simple exercise you can do today to help improve your networking opportunities.
Feel free to get in touch with your thoughts: Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
29. All about websites, and much more with James Holden - Part Two
We pick up part two of our conversation with James Holden, founder of Wolf Productions. This time we consider questions such as is your website working for you? What are you measuring the success of your website against? How should you maintain your website? Why is it important to invest adequately in the web presence you own?
Listen to Part One here if you missed it.
Feel free to get in touch with your thoughts: Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
28. All about websites, and much more with James Holden - Part One
Why do you need a website in the first place? What is your website there to do, and how do you know if it's doing it? When are chat bots a good idea, and why should you be different to get noticed in your marketing?
We discuss these questions and much, much more with James Holden, founder of Wolf Productions, the bespoke website design company, which he started in 2001.
Listen to part one of our absorbing meander with James. If you're interested in how to make the most of your website, you'll find this useful!
Feel free to get in touch with your thoughts: Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
27. Mini Meander 8 - The sales process an example
Here Sam discusses an example of a the selling process, what he liked and what he thought could be improved about a recent sales call he heard. See if you agree, and let us know of any interesting sales stories you've experienced.
Feel free to get in touch with your thoughts: Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
26. Marketing analytics with Hugo Pickering - Part Two
We pick up the fascinating conversation with Hugo Pickering into the world of analytics in this episode.
Walk with us down the riverbank meanders of marketing and explore all these questions...What should you be looking for from analytics consultancies you commission? Can you decipher their reports, are they too long, too short, too unfocussed, too clinical? How can you decipher changes to make based on what the analytics are telling you? Are them some examples of organisations that understand and measure their customer journeys well?
Feel free to get in touch with your thoughts: Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
25. Online overload in Q1 2021
We recently hosted a small poll on the most pressing challenge for marketers in Q1 2021, we gave four options, and the winner by a country mile was audience online overload. So we decided to talk about this as the major issue for Q1 2021 in this episode, amongst other pressures we can see, like budget constraints. We ended up having quite a deep and meaningful chat about how online overload is effecting most of us, both in our personal and professional lives, so we thought of some ideas to try and address this.
Have a listen and see what you think. We'd love to know any of your thoughts about the subject too. Do you agree, disagree, or have you got some additional ideas? Let us know Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
24. Marketing analytics with Hugo Pickering - Part One
As we know, analytics are an essential part of marketing, but so often analytics systems and reports can be slightly hard to interpret, and to draw useful insights from, if you're not sure what to measure, and why. It can be all too easy these days with obliging platforms to produce lots of lovely colourful charts, but what are the sort of fundamental considerations you need to have in place to create meaningful data insights?
We discuss all this and much more with our special guest, Hugo Pickering. Hugo is a marketing and communications specialist and entrepreneur, take a look at his website for more information. His digital marketing credentials are formidable, and we question him about all analytics over our two podcast episodes. Enjoy.
Feel free to get in touch with your thoughts: Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
23. Mini Meander 7 - Project Management Systems, and six ways they will help you
Sally takes a highly practical meander through Project Management, answering a host of questions in under 10 minutes! What should effective project management achieve? How can it work? How should project management systems be set up, and what are the crucial work processes they can help you with?
P.S. As a quick challenge for our Twitter followers, see if you can hear Sally's cat purring during the episode, Tweet us the timecode if you hear him!
22. LinkedIn with Emma Wyatt - Part Two
Welcome to part two of our LinkedIn special with LinkedIn strategy consultant Emma Wyatt.
In this episode we dig deeper into the professional network and explore some more questions, and provide, what we hope are helpful answers. Questions like, how often should we post on LinkedIn? Why should you interact with other post on LinkedIn and comment on them, and what sort of paid campaigns should you launch on the platform?
Needless to say we've only managed to fit so much into two 30 minute episodes. So if you're interested in making more of your LinkedIn profile, strategy for business development and promoting on the platform, why not find Emma and connect.
If you've been spurred into action, or have any questions for us that you'd like explored in a future Meander, feel free to get in touch with your thoughts: Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
21. Marketing at the Strategic, Operational and Tactical levels - Part Two
"A strategy makes it easier to make decisions, and it means you'll make better decisions more quickly" Sally Green, 2020
In part two of our strategy episode we talk about aligning strategy to roles within teams and marketing job descriptions, great people's thinking about strategy, organisational mission statements, and how organisations truly live their strategy, both in terms of what they do, and how this compares to their brand proposition.
Feel free to get in touch with your thoughts: Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
20. LinkedIn with Emma Wyatt - Part One
How do the most effective users of LinkedIn operate? What should your profile look like? When should you post, what should you post? What does a connection strategy look like? Our guest Emma Wyatt has answers to these questions and more, in this special episode.
Listen to Part One today, with Part Two following hotly on its heels. Once you've listened, why not let us know what you think, and take a deeper look at the LinkedIn strategy and coaching work Emma helps her clients with, you can find her, on LinkedIn!
Feel free to get in touch with your thoughts: Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
19. Marketing at the Strategic, Operational and Tactical levels - Part One
This is a real cracker! It features deliciously practical observations and helpful tips from Sally, and sneakily smuggled in military history references from Sam.
What do the different levels of marketing really mean, and how does this matter to you and your team? How does it affect your planning and decision making? How do you make meaningful links between the levels, and how does this impact your organisation and resourcing? Why do so many people overuse of the words strategic and strategy?!
Feel free to get in touch with your thoughts: Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
18. Mini Meander 6 - The One Page Marketing Plan
How long is your current marketing plan? How long does it need to be? Does a one page marketing plan sound crazy? Have a listen and see what you think...
Feel free to get in touch with your thoughts: Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
17. Sales Conferences with Barry Clark - Part Two
In this episode Sally and Barry discuss feeling safe to share your concerns, sales and marketing teams utilising CRM systems effectively, finding and sharing meaningful reporting data, and reimagining reporting relationships and performance assessment.
Our special guest is Barry Clark, Managing Director of Dunedin Consultancy Ltd.
If you have any questions or feedback for us, or Barry, please tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
16. Customer Journeys Part Two - This time it's personal!
Where do customer journeys actually start, how do we know if they're optimised, what's our customer lifetime value and how can you get the most out of CRMs?
In Part One we discussed funnels and nurturing, buying presents, marketing automation, and of course handbags!
15. Sales Conferences with Barry Clark - Part One
A number of us will have been to sales conferences in the past, and no doubt have memorable stories of them to share. However, when you take a deeper look, what are sales conferences actually for? Who needs to be at sales conferences, and how do you facilitate meaningful conversations at them?
We explore all these questions and more with our special guest Barry Clark, Managing Director of Dunedin Consultancy Ltd. Part Two will be coming your way soon!
If you have any questions or feedback please tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
14. Customer Journeys - touchpoints, tills and tiaras (well not tiaras!)
Do you truly understand your customers' journeys?
If we were to compare your customer touchpoints to a shop, have you thought about the conversations that are taking place outside the shop window, who meets the customer at the door? Are you hassling customers too much as they browse, or not checking in with them enough? Can your customers find the items on the shelves clearly marked, and do they know where the till is What's your follow up with people after they've left the shop, will they recommend your products, and how will you get them to return?
This and much more in our latest Meander!
13. Market Research with Amanda Claesens - Part Two
What do data visualisations, practical steps for consuming market research data and learning from 'negative feedback' have in common? The second part of our Marketing Meander with Amanda Claesens of course!
We hope you all managed to listen to Part One, if not, hit the link subtly included in this sentence, and then join us back here for Part Two!
If you would like more detail on Amanda's work, check out ACE Market Research, or follow Amanda on Twitter.
12. Mini Meander 5 - How much of your job is spent doing you job?
Do you know how much time you spend fulfilling the key functions of your job? Do you know how much time you need to spend on these key functions? How much time is spent on less productive, or unrelated areas? How much time do you spend working on tasks which you aren't best placed to complete in an optimal way, tasks that someone else might be best to complete?
If you haven't done this already, you'd probably be surprised how you actually spend your time every day, or every week of every year!
Do you recognise this in your working life? What other techniques can you suggest? Let us know. Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
11. Market Research with Amanda Claesens - Part One
What is market research? How much does it cost? When should you use it? How do you act on its results?
We explore all these questions and more with our special guest Amanda Claesens, owner of Ace Market Research. Part Two will be coming your way soon!
If you have any questions or feedback please tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
10. Market Research Meander with Amanda Claesens Trailer
Want to hear more about market research? What is it, how does it work, what are the pitfalls, how do you make the most of research projects and act on the results?
We'll be exploring all these questions over two podcasts with our special guest Amanda Claesens, owner of Ace Market Research.
Download from Friday 9th October wherever you access your podcasts, and let us know if you have any feedback @meanderspod.
9. Has your marketing budget been slashed? - A call for your advice
As the economic impact of the COVID 19 pandemic bites our marketing budgets are starting to suffer. These are horrible times for so many, and we'd like to try and help facilitate the sharing of advice and support amongst marketers and small business owners. A way of doing this sharing experiences, tips, advise and moral support; you're not alone in having to be creative when 60% plus of your budget is cut!
So this is a call out to anyone who wants to share their tips, advice and experiences of working through times of meagre budgets. How did you adapt expectations, build a case to defend your budget, make the most of organic campaigns, build strengths for the future recovery, support your colleagues experiencing this situation for the first time, and help keep them motivated?
Please get in touch with your advice and stories, and if you've got particularly strident thoughts, we'd even like to have you as a guest on the show. Let's try and help each other through these times. Tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
8. Mini Meander 4 - To do it yourself, or not do it yourself?
Should you attempt to do ALL marketing activities yourself? What are the pitfalls of trying to be a jack of all trades when it comes to marketing, and how can you harness the skills of others?
We'd love to hear what you think about this subject, and any other bend in the river of marketing. Please send any questions, episode suggestions, queries, faint praise or criticism, by tweeting @meanderspod or email us at meanderspod@gmail.com
7. Audiences - Part Two - The meander continues...
Once we have our personas researched, tested and agreed, how do we work at relationships with our audiences so that 'they end with a smile not a slap'?
Take a listen to Part 2 of our audiences podcast to see if you agree with our thinking.
If you have any observations please tweet us @meanderspod or email meanderspod@gmail.com
6. Extra Mini Meander - Are you boggled by marketing innovations?
Please let us know how you process the constant deluge of new concepts and technologies of marketing. Are you one of those who needs exposing to a new ideas multiple times before investigating it, or do you jump in quickly? Do you refine down your notes from education courses into three relevant concepts that you will actually deploy in your marketing? Do you 'manage' your consumption of new marketing ideas from particular gurus that you admire? How often have you actually persuaded others in your team to take on a new approach?
We'll be covering ways to survive and thrive the incessant stream of marketing innovations in a future podcast, and we'd love to have some of your examples and questions on the subject.
Email us at meanderspod@gmail.com or tweet @meanderspod
5. Audiences - Part One - Who, what, where, how?
What do handbags, ravenous hyenas and Percy Pigs have in common? Our latest Marketing Meander about audiences of course. We've split this one in two digestible chunks, as there is so much to explore, and questions to ask, questions like:
Who are my audience?
What do they look like?
What motivates my audience, and what do they need from me?
Where do I find them?
How do I communicate with them, and inspire them?
What do I do with them once I've got their attention?
Any many, many more, just sit back, relax and have a listen to see how many of these areas we've meandered through, enjoy!
4. Mini Meander 3 - Once upon a time...
How can you harness the power of storytelling? Where do you start? Is it time to revisit the 'about us' part of your website, does it say why you do what you do? Does it tell your story? How do stories in your marketing really make a difference?
3. Mini Meander - Anxiety, hope and purchasing a product.
According to a new study from Imperial College London, anxiety makes people more likely to buy a product. This doesn't mean we should frighten our prospect customers into buying our products, or increase their anxiety, but we should be clear, helpful and hopeful. I've tried to make sense of this from my point of view, but I'd love to hear your thoughts. Send me any ideas @meanderspod.
2. A Mini Meander - Machines and humans
This is a quick meander about machines, data and the human being. Where should marketing focus, or be led? Do we sometimes forget about the human being consuming our campaigns, and our own humanity when making decisions on a strategy to pursue? Have a listen an let us know what you think.
1. What's this campaign thing anyway? Marketing Meanders - Episode 1
Hooray, it's the first episode of Marketing Meanders with Sally and Sam, a foray into marketing at the coalface. In this episode we're discussing what a marketing campaign is. We will ask all the questions you'll want to ask yourself and your team before, during and after running one.
Questions like: What sort of campaign(s) do we need? Who are we targeting? How do we create something to fit our budget? How do we launch our campaign, and where does it live? How should we monitor it, manage it, and mitigate failures? How does it come to an end?
Remember, it's a meander, filled with personal examples and pondering. Have a listen and let us know what you think.l. Enjoy!