2022 planning got you feeling like this guy? ➡️🤯
We’ve all been there, Geospatialers. When it comes to nailing your marketing plan for the year, looking at a blank page is equal parts intimidating and inspiring.
Maybe you’re racking your brains for ideas…but coming up with zilch.
Maybe your head is fizzing with possibilities…but you’ve got no idea where to begin.
Either way, to achieve those sparkling results and ROI, you need a plan. So, let’s put pen to paper and get you outta that funk, shall we?
Here’s the lowdown…
1️⃣ Set a goal for your marketing
Posting filler content is a surefire way to kill results. A kickass marketing strategy starts with a crystal clear set of goals. Every piece of content you share should have a purpose and support your wider business objectives.
Let’s say you want to grow sales by 20% in the construction market to $1m USD. It’s time to focus and develop a step-by-step, results-driven strategy that’ll help you get there. Sales conversion is a NUMBERS GAME and the rule of thumb is 1% conversion. E.g: for every 100 people that signed up for your webinar, 1 person will purchase.
Keep a close eye on your metrics and monitor those results. What’s working? What isn’t? How can you finetune your strategy so it edges you towards your goal more effectively?
2️⃣ Define your content pillars
Content pillars are a set of themes or topics that your business can use to create posts (e.g. social media captions, email marketing, and blogs). We’re talking relevant, informative, meaningful content that appeals to your target audience.
Ask yourself…
➡️ What platforms are my target audience using?
➡️ What topics are they interested in?
➡️ What values do they hold?
➡️ What topics are educational and valuable to my audience?
➡️ How can my business’s social media content target my audience’s challenges?
The answers to these questions will help you identify the content types your audience will want to see. Then, you’ll be able to map out your key content pillars WITHOUT the guesswork!
3️⃣ Think in campaigns
Simply put, a campaign is a bunch of activities that support one core goal or message. E.g. posts, videos, and educational content that guide the follower through the sales funnel and lead them to purchase XYZ.
Map out a campaign focused on your goal and target audience. Remember, you want to identify where they hang out and share a steady stream of juicy content that attracts them, educates them, and leads them to purchase.
Let’s say you wanted to target developers. We’d recommend the following:
➡️ Focus on where they hang out (e.g. Linkedin)
➡️ Do a search and find them using keywords like “Property Developer” or “Construction Manager” – get super savvy with LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator to refine your search.
➡️ Spend some money boosting your posts, again focusing on keywords and job titles of that target audience.
Does planning feel yucky? Would you LOVE to have a streamlined planning process that works? Why don’t you jump on a courtesy call with me to find out how you can get your Geospatial business on track in 2022! 👇👇
This morning I headed to the farm to feed my wooly beasts (if you’re new here…I promise you’ve not signed up to the wrong newsletter. Stick with me).
When I’m not supporting surveyors and geospatial experts in marketing, I’m basically running Noah’s Ark (‘Ball’s Ark’ doesn’t quite have the same right to it, does it). I’ve got herdwick sheep, two chickens, two horses, two sheepdogs, two cats, and a tup named Lancelot. Oh, and the odd rat or two.
Today, I hopped on my 3½ year old filly horse, Maggie, to start a 30-minute training session with my amazeballs trainer, Carly.
Here’s the thing about young horses…they’ve got a fair bit of buck in them. You’ve got to be made of sterner stuff to clamber on top and brave the possibility of being booted off.
We began the session, bucking and all, and it was great.
To get this young filly anywhere decent, it’s taken me 3 years, a ton of training, a trip to A&E 🥺, a lot of falling down, and a few teeth marks.
Three factors were key.
Getting Maggie to this point felt like an impossible goal, once upon a time. But we got there with baby steps. Firstly, groundwork and handling to desensitise her. Next, a backing procedure. Now, we continue to desensitise her with routines and training.
So, let my journey with Maggie give you some food for thought about your own ability to persevere and achieve your goals.
Note down the little milestones and ‘success markers’ that are moving you forwards.
Big goals are frightening 😱. To achieve them, you have to break them down. Otherwise, you’ll end up missing them completely… overwhelmed and overdone!
But when it feels insurmountable and you’re tempted to give up, ask yourself this: “It’s OK to miss that goal but am I still making progress?”
“Go for a goal + miss it – BUT keep progressing towards it!” Elaine Ball
Falling down is inevitable – but getting back up again is what counts.
I’ll leave you with that thought.
Take care for now. Next stop: GEO Business 🇬🇧 on 25th November – see you there?
Elaine
PS: What is your big goal for 2022? Would love to hear?
Knowing what type of content to produce as a Survey Business or Geospatial Technology firm can be a real ball ache, but DON’T FRET Geospatialers because this ball has it covered ✅
Below 👇 I have shared some wicked-content-examples and showcased the types of questions you could answer. The amazing balls examples are from real Surveyors and Geospatial technology firms from around the globe. My opinion on good content!
This content cheat sheet is the back up documentation for the webinar “What Content When to Generate Sales” which took place on 13th October 2021 – for a copy of the recording, please email me 👉 elaine@elaineball.co.uk.
NOTE: This is a working document meaning we will continue to add great content examples from Industry to inspire you with your content journey. ENJOY. Elaine
In the Problem NOT aware + building SEO phase; the prospect may not be aware he she has a problem ‘yet’. so produce content pieces that could answer some probing questions! I have split these up into 10 main categories Melanie Deiziel uses in her framework The Content Fuel Framework – a highly recommended book, which oozes tons of detail.
So lets begin,
People – tells a story of a person or group of people. Ask ‘what people might the audience be interested in learning more about?’
Example questions could be:
EXAMPLE PEOPLE-LED CONTENT COULD BE:
An Interview with Mike Dziok, Marketing Director at Microdrones
Basics: general overview of a subject, background, how to etc
Example questions could be:
EXAMPLE BASIC-LED CONTENT COULD BE:
Trimble updates by Surveying with Robert
Down to Earth episode 1: fun and informative content
What are the Different Types of Surveyors?
Details – lengthy comprehensive and in-depth look into a subject
EXAMPLE DETAIL-LED CONTENT COULD BE:
Work with industry professionals and come up with a focused content piece like what NaVis did; State of mobile mapping in 20201
How microdrones can help generate high accuracy mapping
What are the different types of surveyors
History – relevant information about the past that your audience may be interested in
EXAMPLE HISTORY-LED CONTENT COULD BE:
Process – designed to help the audience understand how something happens, help them replicate the process themselves
EXAMPLE PROCESS-LED CONTENT COULD BE:
How its made – discovery channel
How to do georeferencing of my survey drone data
Curation – intentionally selected list of items based on specific information. Round up of the best, worst etc..
Now this is a brilliant idea; resources in your industry! Within the Geospatial Industry / Survey profession, could you curate a ranked or unranked list of the following:
EXAMPLE CURATED-LED CONTENT COULD BE:
Data – tell a story through numbers, trends or stats
Product – product / service related information.
EXAMPLE PRODUCT-LED CONTENT COULD BE:
Example – introduction, demonstrations or showing off an example
Opinion – a view, belief or objective facts only
In problem aware, your audience are familiar with their issue, their pain and they have started researching to find out WHO can help them or WHAT can solve their problem! Bearing this in mind, you need to think about the type of questions your buyer would put into Google in order to answer their probing queries! Examples will be price, solution to x, how to, etc. Below I have outlined some questions and examples to share.
People
Basics:
Details
History
Process
Curation
Data
Product
Example
Opinion
During the research phase, the prospect is hungry for details! This is where you can go 🍌🍌🍌’s with your content. I recommend one thorough piece per year. Bear in mind you can outsource your copy writing to a copy writer! They will just need a brief or outline to give them some context. Tip: Check out Fiverr and UpWork to find a hot copy writer! Check out my gal Stephanie White too!
Basics
Details
History
Product
Opinion
Process
Data
Product
Opinion
During the purchase phase, you want to help SPEED up the sales cycle by producing content that will support your sales team and shorten that sales process! Content that answers questions/ queries and pains that prospect may have. Use this style content in emails, in-between discovery calls and demos, drip feed campaigns. Remember the more complicated the product (esp process driven) the more buyers (and influences) will be involved. So support that sale by backing it up with great content that addresses the good, the bad and the ugly! Note: we don’t address formats in this blog YET but these could be writing, infographic, video, audio / podcast, map type of content, live video, REELS (on Instagram), image gallery or logo reel on your website, brochure, flyer, email footer.
People – in the purchasing phase, and to build rapport with prospects, use people content to make the buyer aware!
Basics
Details
Process
Curation
Data
Product
Example
Opinion
When it comes to making your mark as a surveyor, your accuracy and dependability are your superpowers 🦸♂️
But many companies in the geo-spatial space struggle to effectively communicate their expertise, reliability and passion.
Sure, there’s technical knowledge in abundance…but without the right marketing know-how, it won’t translate to sales.
The hard sell ain’t gonna cut it – you need to inform, educate and inspire potential prospects to demonstrate why your services are indispensable. This means generating and nurturing leads.
Time and time again, the power of email marketing is slept on. But with the right strategy, emails are a powerful tool for warming up prospects and getting clients.
Struggle to get those all-important open rates and click-throughs? Here’s what you should ask yourself…
🎯 Did you send it to the right people?
📅🕒 Did you send at the right time of day/day of the week?
💬 Was your messaging and intention clear? E.g. Did you have a strong header or subject line that addressed a common client issue or goal?
🤮 Was your tone too aggressive? Did it come across ‘salesy’?
↔ Were you concise with your narrative?
📢 Was there a clear Call to Action? And was that a simple process for the reader to undertake?
🧐Where did you lose your audience? Did they click but not complete? Or did they not even get to the click?
“But do emails still work for lead generation?” I hear you say…
The answer to that is: YES! Some of our clients achieve open rates of over 65% with 12% click-throughs, which are way above the industry average of 25% and 2.5% respectively.
Want to get the lowdown on how we do it? Book a discovery call about the Geospatial Marketing Academy TODAY to get your email marketing in check. Let’s get you those leads!
Click the HERE to book yours.
Well, Geospatialers, you’d get some of the most exciting and forward-thinking surveyors & businesses in the online space right now!
⬇️ Take a look at 4 businesses we LOVE to follow…
The Innovator
Microdrones (@microdrones_uas) are a BIG company with a fabulous story. Because what’s better than telling your product story in your marketing… SHOWING YOU. Their DOWN TO EARTH SURVEYOR REALITY SERIES DEMONSTRATES THE EFFICIENCY OF DRONE LIDAR. These videos are hypnotising, to say the least, and their tenacious innovations show a true passion for aviation.
A great example of how to generate marketing leads!
The Disrupter
Matt (@thepartychiefsurveyvest) – designer of the party chief survey vests – is a surveyor personality waiting to blow up! His fun and lighthearted approach to marketing is something that we LOVE following, disrupting the norms and breathing new life into geospatial marketing!
See Surveyors can be extroverts!
The Landman
Lee Landman (@slugsy100) lives and breathes construction surveying in Cape Town, South Africa. With his hugely popular following on Instagram, Lee uses eye-catching photography and fun videos as a marketing method. And what better name do you need as a surveyor!?
☝🏻 This dude also got shot at last year, and the bullet just missed his head, scalping him! We may change his name to Mr Resilient.
The Under-Dog
LSB bvba (@lsbbvba3945) or Lieven is a land surveyor from Belgium who focuses on 3D laser scanning and teaching. His webinars are incredibly informative, and he loves to share new outlooks on old methods (aka challenging the status quo!).
Who says a dog doesn’t have its day! Lets keep an eyeball or two on Lieven!
Let us know what you think – which Geo recommendation has your vote?
➡️ Hit Reply 📧 with either The Innovator, Disrupter, Landman or Under-Dog!
P.S. If you’ve got questions about levelling up your emails, then book a FREE 30min discovery call with me Today and find out how I can help.
(hint: if you don’t immediately answer YES… your emails are not good enough, and you need to read this email!)
Look, I’ll spare you the fluff.
Here are FIVE ⭐ incredibly ⭐ easy hacks that level up your email campaign, stat.
Get BALLSY with your subject lines.
Don’t put people to sleep or let them automatically hit the trashcan icon with another “how to… blah blah blah” subject line… Get creative.
Because guess what!? Boring subject lines lead to a subpar open rate, and you may actually be wasting your time writing the content for your emails when barely anybody is reading them.
Our advice… use short, snappy sentences that pique curiosity BUT are also relevant to the email itself. (No clickbait marketing tactics here, << Test First Name >>!)
Do NOT Waffle.
You may have many great ideas and want to share them, but your emails need to be concise and to the point. Waffling leads to wandering 👀, and your audience will quickly move onto their next task.
Tip – cut the copy! Run your text through Hemingway Editor for a quick analysis of how ‘wordy’ your email is.
Format with these guys ➡️💡🎯🧐
Emojis aren’t for kids… they can help to format text and emphasise points.
Think about it – a lot of people skim read. If you have arrow emojis next to the key sections of your email, they’re likely to at least read them sentences! Use them wisely 😉
Have ONE CTA (call-to-action) per email
Directing people to book a call, read your blog, and download a brochure in ONE email is just going to confuse your subscribers. Plus, if you’re cramming all your messaging into one email, this hack will help you write many more emails… you’re welcome!
Analyse your click-through rates (CTR)
One of the main ways to analyse your email performance is to monitor your click-through rates. If you’re getting a high click-through rate, your email is desirable and serves its purpose (it also leads to more sales!).
[FACT] The average click-through rate for our industry is 3.5% (2021 Global Email Benchmarks data), and one of our client’s CTR is hitting a mega 12%!
☝🏻 Want a piece of that?
Book a discovery call with me TODAY to get your email marketing on track and working for you! Because there’s no time like the present for more leads, right!?
Your Geospatial Marketer, Elaine 🧡
(Updated 27th March 2021)
But more importantly, why do they care about it?
The Ball Family
It’s a total no-brainer for me. I totally live and breath marketing and geospatial (and totally unrelatedly, horses). But with a Dad whose passion is geospatial and innovation, you could say survey is in my blood and a natural path for me to follow.
On top of that, getting out there and meeting people is my happiest addiction. Being stuck in the office for a couple of days leaves me bouncing off the walls – just ask my team.
That’s why my job allows me to exercise both of these loves – geeking out about geospatial and using communication to improve it…bliss for me.
“As marketing and sales are becoming inherently linked, it is vitally important for sales teams to take the messages provided by marketing and deliver them to new audiences. I use social media to provide my own insight, share views from industry commentators and help me connect with groups of people I would not otherwise manage to visit, all around the world. I find benefit in using social media as I myself become better educated and aware of the market, but I feel I am able to give some of my own personal knowledge from 10 years in the Geospatial industry.”
“Be benefit-led. Our starting point for every single marketing activity, whether that be a blog, an e-shot, a printed advert or a newsletter, is to ask ourselves how we can provide information of real value that will engage both our customers and our prospective clients. Our customers are motivated, busy professionals who are constantly looking for ways to be more efficient in the field and office, to increase productivity, to add value to their offering, to expand it or simply just solve a problem. If our message doesn’t meet these criteria then we have fallen into the trap of focusing on what we want to tell them about a product or service rather than why it could benefit their business.”
“Attend the widest number of trade shows outside the geospatial business.”
The biggest markets for geospatial technology are often not mapping and construction. The best example being high-speed laser scanning applications in land, sea and air collision avoidance.
Conversely, technology developed for non-geospatial uses often have large, high value geospatial applications. E.g. GPS, Gyro and telemetry products. ‘Early Adopters ‘ have come to dominate the survey and construction markets.
“Invention and innovation are keys to the Geospatial industry: from drawing maps to GPS/GNSS, from laser distance meters to 3d scanners, from computer screens to mix-reality, the industry adapts and shapes its future every day. #neverbored.”
“Verticalize or die. Geospatial sensors, data, and analytics have become part of all aspects of our everyday life and these services are delivered to us from non traditional companies like a Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook. As an industry our strength and focus must be on how we utilize our experience and know how in geospatial data collection, processing, and analytics and apply that knowledge to vertical markets like utilities, construction, natural resources, and transportation.”
***
Psst… are you a Geospatial Marketer? Looking to improve your marketing knowledge but not sure what course to choose? Can you imagine a course that is Geospatial and marketing focused? We can and we launched one; introducing the Geospatial Marketing Academy, a tried and tested methodology that is for Geospatial Marketers around the globe. A course that your boss will gladly spend his dosh on! Find out more by clicking the link here.
***
6. Mike Hopkins, Managing Director, Storm Geomatics @StormGeomatics
“Don’t’ do your marketing alone, use your whole company for further reach and higher volumes of more varied content”.
“Don’t tell people how you survey a job, make the point that you are solving someone’s problem.”
“At Hexagon we strive to always be the best, never be afraid of challenge and keep pushing yourself out of your comfort zone.”
“Understand what your audience think and be clear about what you want to happen as a result of them seeing this communication. Then you can consider how to monitor it.”
“In business, indecisiveness is fatal. If a decision is right – you progress. If a decision is wrong – you learn. If you do nothing – you sink.”
“Here at Riegl USA we have an informal philosophy that is more about doing business. If we take care of our customers then all will be good!”
“Don’t underestimate the importance of following up leads!”
“Stay relevant, valuable and honest. Do it all with respect. Take pride in your online presence and cultivate it well. This will lead to reciprocal industry respect which after all, is what the aim is.”
“We can now showcase our skills to a worldwide audience from an iPhone on the train home from London. We can attend conferences with a #tag and a tweet. My advice: blow your trumpet, but make sure you play a good tune and stand out from the other buskers!”
“Some brands will say whatever they think you will believe to sell their stuff, most don’t buy it – know your audience and then be authentic, be transparent, be real.”
“I think it is important to promote your brand via advertising while at the same time publishing customer success stories. That is a powerful combination.”
“We’re only successful, if our customers are successful.”
“The days of using only a vendor-controlled, outbound approach for which we, as marketers and business leaders, decide where and when our messages will be heard are over. With buyers in control, the marketer’s challenge and opportunity are to get found where and when the buyer is. Some view this as bad news and lost control, but I don’t. I believe marketing has never seen brighter days with the innovation of inbound and content marketing. We have more knowledge, more technology, more measurement, and more control than ever. But with a highly sceptical, technical audience, you have to be smart and patient about how you do it!”
“Social media is more than just a way to brag to friends and family about what you are doing. From a business perspective, be strategic when using social media. Focus on relevant keywords and hashtags when posting. While the majority of our projects are highly confidential we are always careful to state where we are working and what type of service we are providing. It always amazes me how quickly we will get calls and emails about work in a particular geographic region after posting on social media that we are there, even if we can’t state exactly what we are doing”
“As an industry we are still woefully bad at presenting the benefits of what we do in economic terms, in consequence many very important projects, don’t get funding and its an aspect of our discipline we desperately need to improve.”
“My top tip is good record keeping. Invest in a decent company or personal CRM system. Keep your contacts up to date and keep following up!”
“Give it away! What can you share that you can use to build your list? Maybe it’s a report or a webinar… whatever it is, ensure it’s of VALUE to your target market – and watch your database grow.”
“Talk to people! Internally and externally communication and transparency really is key.”
“21st century marketing starts with recognizing that today’s consumer not only has a voice, but needs to be listened too.”
“Use language the client can understand! No geo speak.”
“The first step in making your company visible is to become visible yourself.”
“Know your product, nurture your product, love your product, sell your product. Always go the extra mile and you will automatically lap your competitors in the process.”
“When you are discussing your business with a potential client, be honest, be yourself and if you do not know the answer to a question, own up.”
“A great story is multiplied by a strong, clear voice.”
“In the surveying industry it’s all about accuracy. But when it comes to marketing, many geospatial companies are struggling to find the right strategy that meets their needs accurately enough. A ‘trial and error’ approach is not only costly, but is also a mismatch with the culture of most geospatial companies. Instead, the safety and security of a tried-and-tested approach suits them better. With over 30 years of experience in the geomatics industry and thorough knowledge of B2B communications in the sector, both in print and online, GIM International offers a tailor-made solution. Seemingly ‘old-fashioned’ methods such as a printed magazine can be surprisingly effective, as I noticed during the latest edition of Intergeo for example. Many exhibitors told me that they’ve found articles in trade magazines to be a valuable way of putting their products and services in the spotlight. Combining this with an advertising campaign in a magazine full of relevant content, supported by a targeted online strategy directed at your potential users, results in a strong, integrated marketing communications campaign. It may not be particularly flashy or groundbreaking, but it works – and that’s what counts.”
“Business performance will improve if you understand the numbers. How many enquiries do you receive per month? How many of those enquiries are converted into projects? If you were unsuccessful, why? If you were successful, find out why? It’s not just about price. By gaining and understanding your numbers you will be able to be more successful and more profitable.”
“All marketing has to come down to two behind-the-scenes questions:
And 2. What heaven will it deliver them unto?
Doesn’t matter if it’s for a landing page, blog post, email sequence, webinar, or your product itself. Getting existential like this forces you to go after the emotions that drive your audience. It makes you get visceral about the pains they face… and the payoff that comes from whatever it is you’re offering.
A great way to do this is through the “five why’s.” For example,
Because that’s the hardest part of staying on a diet and losing weight.
The hell is feeling like of failure, being an outsider, being embarrassed, and feeling guilty. The heaven is: “Three meals you can cook in 15 minutes without anyone knowing you’re on a diet (even if they eat them with you)!”
“It’s Marketing 101: ‘Know thy audience’. And yet most LinkedIn profiles out there have not been strategically conceived to attract and convert a target or niche market. When designing your LinkedIn Profile, you must always be talking to your niche audience:
– From the background image to the Professional Headline (which should be more than title at company)
– Summary section (2000 characters where you get to tell your target market, in their language why they should work with you and what they will get out of it)
– Media you upload to prove your expertise and credibility
– Current and Past Experience
– Projects, Publications and Interests
Make sure that every section of your profile reinforces your expertise in a way that will make your ideal client not only want to work with you (or buy your product) but feel they need to because you are the best solution to their problem.”
“Nothing sells geospatial products and services better than a client success story that describes how your customer used your product or service to do their job faster, better, more safely and cost effectively.”
“Marketing activities certainly contribute to drive innovations. Feedback, challenges as well as suggestions of our customers and partners enable to us to continue developing innovative solutions for the geospatial community. This is why we put a strong emphasis on maintaining close contact to them.”
“Marketing is not only about the campaign assets you create, but also about the stories you tell with content. Paid, earned, share or owned content continuously builds and visualizes a picture of your brand.”
“The best thing you can do for your customers is to be an exceptional boss to your employees.”
“GIS is a unique science. It enables us to understand and connect our whole world while caring for it, and the needs of its people, at the local scale too. Only through GIS can we truly balance the increasing competitive demands we are placing on it.
“If your content marketing is for everybody, it’s for nobody. Mediocre content will hurt your brand more than doing nothing at all.”
“Technology and change: they simply work together, especially in our world of 3D. And because of these advances we all benefit as new tools improve how we scan, analyze, and model the 3D data we collect. I started out in 3D metrology years before laser scanners. My first 3D measurements were with a portable articulating touch probe. In order to ‘scan’, we literally had to sweep the ball probe across a surface. While even then we could digitize and model amazing objects and structures, today we use tools that are far more productive. We are developing even faster 3D technologies for capturing even more of our real world. With over 30 years working in 3D, I can say for sure that we enjoy the change in 3D technology over time.”
“The performance, productivity and reliability of process components necessary to acquire point cloud data, manage data, assess its quality and extract actionable information to feed downstream operations have collectively converged to offer an extremely high value proposition. The remaining challenge for this technology revolution is the reorganization of people, processes and products around these new workflows.”
“Use the fastest technology known! The use of laser scanning literally is the fastest form of 3d data acquisition—measurement—known on planet earth. Nothing else is faster. Integration of this technology undeniably leads to a reduction in labor and material expense for any new or renovation project. It’s not about the technology…it’s about the benefit from the technology. It’s the “why” behind the technology that will fuel democratization.”
“Standards are like toothbrushes, everybody agrees you should have one, but no one wants to use yours.”
“We invest too much in driving traffic to our websites but not enough on optimizing conversion of traffic when it arrives. My number 1 tip is to divert some of your marketing budget to optimizing conversion and this will be one of the quickest ways of generating more business in a short time frame.”
“Create a company page on LinkedIn and try to build a community of followers around this. You can attract followers by posting regular company updates/product reviews/case studies etc.”
“Redux: Reuse & Recycle. Be a data pack rat and repurpose content to diversify your marketing plan. When creating content, stay on task, but keep an eye on the horizon. Take detailed notes and organize them for future use. Data from interviews, surveys, and case studies will save you precious time and resources going forward.”
“When marketing we believe in a personal approach. We don’t want to be another company sending spam or not receiving visits to our website. We like to talk to our clients, send updates that relate to our clients personal needs and in return we hope our clients pay attention to what we say.”
“Companies are building too many personas of dubious merit by adding a name and photo to obvious demographic data. The goal is to gain new insight into why, when and how customers like yours make the decisions you want to influence. When buyer personas describe meaningful variations in your customer’s mindset and frustrations throughout their journey, you’ll know how to align your sales and marketing strategies to earn each persona’s business.”
“Relentlessly focus on identifying tangible customer value, communicate that value through compelling content and use closed-loop analytics to continuously optimize your approach – that’s a winning growth strategy.”
“The old adages still apply. We need new customers to grow. But don’t forget about your existing ones. They brought you to where you are, have much deeper roots than any new ones you might take on, and are more likely to have a loyalty that goes beyond the merely rational. Appreciating them, treating them as “insiders,” and giving them special favors will pay dividends out of proportion to the effort you expend.”
So, that’s it for now!
Do you have any questions or tips of your own to share? Let us know below or send me a LinkedIn request.
PS: A big thank you to everyone who was willing to provide me with a quote and thank you to those who i didn’t include in this post.
25th February
Warming up Sheep Land (the Yorkshire Dales, England)
Welcome to the 10th edition of the Geospatial Marketing Academy Newsletter – a fortnightly newsletter by me, Elaine Ball, on all the stuff that matters – geospatial marketing, life! A big hello to Charlie, Elizabeth, Ahmed and Holly. Welcome to my NEWS-letter!
Ey up! (a Yorkshire Colloquialism for ‘hello how are you’ )
These past two weeks have been a bit hectic. I’ve been trying to slow down to speed up! Putting in new processes and systems! Ya know, the things that should make you more efficient, be able to manage your workload better and in turn be financially better off – as well as feeding the sheep, riding the horse and having date day!! Being a business owner can be exhausting 🥱
Many marketers within the Geospatial Industry are also girl Fridays (in other words they wear multiple hats for their business) taking on several subjects and trying to spin several plates like doing the wages, booking in jobs, writing proposals, dealing with the accountants. And to top it all off, fit in some quality marketing time!
If you are lucky enough to be surrounded by fellow marketers and focused on the marketing subject alone – I am soooooo jealous! But you have your own challenges 😉
Putting processes and systems into your business and marketing department is the only way you can grow. What do i mean by this?
For example; from establishing a way to monitor sales leads coming in from an exhibition;
How are they handled at the show? Are they logged into a CRM (database) or is it just a business card with a tick in the corner rating how hot they are?
How does the salesperson follow up with this lead? How is it scored? (rated on ‘how likely they will purchase’)
Is the information put into a database (system) in order to log when it came in and how it came in?
Is an automatic email sequence set up (process) that sends out valuable content prospects will want to read or know more about? Keeping your brand top of mind?
Do you know how many sales leads convert per year from your marketing? (process)
So how can we as marketers slow down to speed up.
Here is my list to you with a dollop of ‘love’ on the side. Helping you slow down to speed up!
No. 1. Invest in a journal
Yep you heard me right, invest in a journal that will help you set goals and write tasks. I use Mal Paper and it has changed the way I work. Setting out long, medium and short term goals then having a daily tasks list
No. 2. Keep tasks to a minimum to make room for life
I used to fit as much stuff into my day as I could, which left me feeling exhausted and fed up (unmotivated). Now – with my friendly Mal Paper at my side, I write down three or four key tasks I must do that day.
It has changed the way I do stuff. F O R E V E R !
3. Bite Sized Chunks
If you put off a task until tomorrow, it will grow big fat hairy legs and run wild and be bigger and scarier than the day before! For large hefty tasks, I break them down into manageable sized chunks – making it so much easier to complete.
4. Use an electronic Calendar
This is not new – but sometimes the simple things need revisiting. ✨
I’m actually a paper diary kind of gal! I have been for years however paper diaries can be inefficient and I kept double booking myself! 🥺 So last month I transitioned to THE ELECTRONIC DIARY with an added difference; Bella who runs the operations at EBL (Elaine Ball Ltd) has blocked booked out three hours per day for calls. These can be discovery calls, client catch ups – whatever. And you know… it works a treat! 🥳
So think about how your day is split up.
5. Mind Mapping a process
This works wonders in so many ways! It is great to understand all those little niggly (annoying) bits you need to remove, tweak or add. It is a great way to look at the big picture and dive into the elements of it!
Here is a Marketing and Sales example:
Question: How are leads (prospects) logged at the moment?
Answer: Business card with a tick on them
Question: How can we make this more efficient?
Answer: Make a form on an iPAD which is logged directly to the database. Include a lead scoring card that is a checklist and the sales team can tick away.
Question: Do we have a lead nurture sequence set up to nurture our leads?
Answer: No.
Question: So what should we do?
Answer: Set up MailChimp and produce 5 pieces of content that goes out every two weeks to that lead to nurture them.
Question: What content should I produce?
Answer: A lead from a show is new and potentially never heard of you; so you need content that educates and adds value to that person.
Question: Can we set the lead nurture sequence in the database?
Answer: Yes and then you can track how many sales leads convert over time resulting in knowing your conversion rate (this is so good especially when you want to know how many eyeballs you need at an Exhibition to convert x number of sales per year!)
I mind map everything. I’m a little addicted. But in order to grow my geospatial marketing business, I have to slow down to speed up.
Getting my 🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆’s in a row it key!
LOVE LETTERS
💌 To Ann Handley, the queen of content writing for your inspiration and making me a better writer every day.
💌 To Janeale Dean for busting your ass on getting the lessons completed in GMA – you are one amazing human being! Thank you!
💌 To Charlie Whyman for hosting the LinkedIn challenge and sharing all your amazing knowledge!
💌 To Polly Hopkins for giving me honest direct feedback on GMA and producing your awesome video diaries! You are wonderful and it’s very much appreciated
💌 To Carla Johnson, the best Marketer on this planet for your guidance and amazing balls support!
Thanks for reading to the bottom. I appreciate you!
Stay safe. Stay sane. Wear a 😷
I’ll be back on 11th March 2021
Elaine
11th February
Icy Sheep Land (the Yorkshire Dales, England)
Welcome to the 9th edition of the Geospatial Marketing Academy Newsletter – a fortnightly newsletter by me, Elaine Ball, on all the stuff that matters – geospatial marketing, life, and maybe horses or sheep! A big hello to Fatima, Arno and John. Welcome to my NEWS-letter!
For those who know me, I’m a bit of an outdoorsy kinda gal! My day starts early heading to the farm to feed the animals.
During my early morning routine this week in -3oC 🥶 degrees feeding my sheep, I watched them fondly scoff (eat) their breakfast as fast as I had put it down. Not because they were starving, have you seen the size of them. My goal is to desensitize them that humans are not a threat 🤭
My routine is the same every single day; I pull on my wellies (wellington boots), hike through the freezing temperatures over the hard, frozen ground carefully avoiding the slippery concrete yard, swing the creaky old gate open to the barn, kick out the ice in the water trough then watch them push their way through like eager attendees in the front row of a concert.
Every day I monitor the routine and tweak it to improve my chances of building trust with my sheep.
Slowly but surely, day by day my sheep see me doing the same routine at the same time delivering something that matters to them, I’m earning their trust!
How to acquire buyers
This routine of mine got me thinking about buyers, and about the process of acquiring buyers and how it is done by creating trust in a relationship.
That trust is created through the consistent delivery of content. Content that is something buyers look for and push their way to the front to get a piece of. You know, that information you share along the buyer’s journey to educate your prospects to identify their problem, understand how to fix it and then they’re looking for someone they trust to help them do exactly that and hey, whoa! Here’s someone they trust!
You! Your brand!
Because you have been consistently showing up in the right place with the right help just when they need it.
So back to the story;
Don’t let the sheep pee on you!
My goal is to make my sheep friendly in order for me to easily shear them, trim their feet and give them their wormer easily and without hassle.
Last time i sheared them the big herdwick who was on her back at the time while i clipped her belly (my dad had hold of her) peed, yes peed straight into my dads face! Dowsing him with warm iky fluid. I bet that got rid of his wrinkles! 🤣 As you can imagine I sat there howling with laughter as my dad wiped pee off his face.
So as you can see i have a very valid reason here! Don’t you think?
What Marketers are for!
A marketer is much more than a person who designs nice leaflets or sets up an exhibition booth. A marketer’s true role is strategic. We’re the ones who create the experiences that inspire people to take action. To ask, “What’s next?” And spur an appetite and curiosity for more content. Our role as marketers is to become so valuable to our audience that they can’t wait to see us coming out the barn door with a new bucket of goodness.
If we as Marketers can map out the customers journey, tweak it along the way and strategically place content in the right places, in order to reach our goal, making sales would be so much easier. So what do we need to do?
Six marketing tips you can take from the farm
Set yourself a goal for example: I created an experience that fosters trust with my sheep in order to reach the goal of ‘hassle free handling’
What do my customers care about? What do they need? What is keeping them awake at night? For example: a threat to their current status quo: human in the way of breakfast!
Map out a plan of action. What is important to your buyer and at what stages during his or her buying journey? Think of it in steps. You know the beginning, middle and end.
For example: My sheep wake up and do sheep things – stretch, smell things and each other, walk around the mud and whatever else sheep do. This is them in their customer journey, then their stomach growls and they enter the buyer journey.
They’ve identified a need and they are looking to “buy” some breakfast. That’s where I come in and my consistent daily routine. To be more valuable to my sheep, what can I do to build the relationship before their stomach growls and they’ve identified a need?
Where do they hang out? Where do they find information? Who influences them? For Example: My sheep live in the barn during winter. I make sure I visit them in order to let them know I’m around. One of the sheep is very friendly and she is an excellent influencer to the others. So I make sure she gets lots of treats and fuss in order to encourage curiosity in the others.
Build a following of prospects who are desperate to consume your content in exchange for their contact information. For Example: my sheep are hungry and when they see the other sheep pushing their way towards me and the food, they also come and join in.
This is your gateway to your sales funnel flow.
Is it working for your customer? Track it! Are they finding your content useful, is it satisfying a need? Monitor click throughs, time on site, sign ups to webinars – are they taking action by signing up to find out more? For Example: I know my sheep are getting used to me, they come out of the barn and head straight to the feed buckets – waiting patiently for the food to drop. By spring they will be following me around like I’m their mamma sheep! Eating out of my hands? By tracking the progress, i can see my goal in sight!
Businesses and farms like me have a real goal in mind; for my sheep it’s food to satisfy that hunger need, for me, it’s building a trust so I can handle them without hassle.
Mapping out the journey through content is crucial for success and reaching that end goal.
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Hope you enjoyed life on the farm!
Thanks for reading to the bottom. I appreciate you!
Stay safe. Stay sane. Cover your face (from the nose down)
I’ll be back on 25th February 2021
Elaine
Welcome to the 8th edition of the Geospatial Marketing Academy Newsletter – a fortnightly newsletter by me, Elaine Ball, on all the stuff that matters – geospatial marketing, life, and maybe horses! A big hello to Petra, Stella and Caio. Welcome to my NEWS-letter!
“It is ok to protect your time!”
Denise Duffield-Thomas
A tradition in my family is to give ourselves a new year’s resolution and this year was no exception. So diving head first into 2021, I decided I would protect my time by setting boundaries and balancing my life! Here we go…
Balancing work and life is somewhat interesting? Hard to get your head around it and more annoying when old habits creep in!
You know what I mean!
Even more so with this pandemic! Home schooling being part of the new-norm for parents – taking time-strapped adults to the limit! Set that aside for now and let’s talk about YOU!
“I’m too busy, I can’t do any more!”
“Balance is not better time management, but better boundary management . Balance means making choices and enjoying those choices”
Betsy Jacobson
#1. The Non-negotiables
Let’s start with important time factors!
What do you have to do in your work life that is non-negotiable?
Date day?
Beach time with the kids?
Taking the mutt (dog) for a well earned walk🐕
Tax return? 😆
Finish work 5pm on Friday ready for quarantine-nie time (aka drinks in lockdown) 🤣
While I know how hard it is to run a small company when you are wearing many hats, working many hours to give your family a great life. Could you free up more time to become richer? In time and moola (money)?
Start here:
List down the non-negotiables in your weekly diary!
What is important for you?
You don’t have to accommodate people’s preferences and I know from experience how burn-out will destroy all the hard work you have put in! So think about the non-negotiables that you must put into your week!
It will not only boost your energy but your business too!
#2. Look into outsourcing your weaknesses
Do you like bookkeeping?
Writing content to generate marketing qualified leads?
Sorting out your website?
Calling back clients?
Booking in clients?
The school run?
Get super honest with yourself, and review your weaknesses. Remember, you can’t be good at everything! So outsource it! Look into Upwork or FIVERR or ‘ask’ around and find a Virtual Assistant.
Start small; you don’t have to outsource the world, just those little things that you hate doing or could free up valuable time.
You will soon wonder why the hell you didn’t do it before.
#3. Manage your clients expectations
Yup managing those client expectations from the outset!
Do you do it?
Have you done it?
This is one thing i have put in this year already and BOOM it’s working. For example; every Friday I have a Client Sales meeting. This used to last over an hour, sometimes 2. 😩 We would spend 20mins on sales then the rest on politics, covid and other bollocks… wasting valuable time. I used to think they needed to get stuff off their chest but it made me feel exhausted, unmotivated and fed up with my client! #notpretty
So this year, I set the expectations at the start of the meeting;
And bloody hell, it worked. 😲
It has not only changed my Friday’s, it has helped my client free up his time! My attitude to ‘change’ freed up my time and our sales meetings are all wrapped up and put to bed in 26mins (my new goal – woohoo!)
My client didn’t sack me
Nor did he complain
And we got more done and dusted in those valuable minutes
I set the expectations…
I also reshuffled the sales executives to do mini one-on-one calls during the week to review any pressing questions thus leaving me to deliver the goods on a Friday. Those little tweaks have made such a huge difference. I now leave the office at 5pm on a Friday, ready for Quarantine-nie time!
“Drama is someone else’s client”
Bonnie Gillespie
Two things I can’t live without for Managing your Client Expectations
Communicate your process! Set up a Google Doc showcasing what is and isn’t included in your service and what you need from your clients and when.
Example; I set up a “Do you TopoDOT” document (for my client; TopoDOT, a point cloud processing house). It outlines all the things that the prospect might ask, which saves tons of time when they send me ANOTHER email asking the same thing! I now just ping them the link!
Adopt Calendly – a free online appointment scheduling software.
Ideal for days you know you are pricing or are in the office! Make it super easy for your clients to book your time. The trick is to set expectations at the start of your call, so add these into you Calendly. Also fabulous in managing your team’s time with you!
“Poor planning on your part does not necessitate an emergency on mine”
Bob Carter
#4. Project Management – being super strict with your time!
Plan ahead; i know projects run over, if this is the case with rush jobs, create space in your schedule in advance to accommodate inevitable last minute requests. And if the time is not needed, you have some space time to write your marketing plan 😉
Look at your contracts, terms and conditions; set out expectations in these. Verbal agreements can go haywire!
Look into project management software like ASANA or AIRTABLE, especially efficient if you have a small team. Then you can keep on track of all the important projects without going astray with other items that could take up your time
Automate your process. If you use a New Client Form during the initial sales phase, speed up the process by automating it for the client to fill in before the initial meeting. This will hugely speed up your time, give you all the valuable details and reduce any missing information; make it super simple and automate that form!
Again, TopoDOT automates so many processors including ‘request a quote’ – super efficient, reduces your time. They fill in the details, so no creating silly mistakes!
#4. Put your prices up
“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get”
Warren Buffet
Stop attracting high-maintenance clients – yes you know exactly who they are and I can hear you saying “but Elaine, they pay the bills!” However if you don’t change this, you will always be chasing your tail (always too busy for life)! If you actually wrote out all the time one of these clients costs you, is it worth it? So this is a good time to up those prices.
Here are 5 things Denise Duffield-Thomas talks about in her book Chillpreneur:
Answer the following:
Is demand outstripping my available energy right now? How many clients would I like instead, and for what money?
Do I want to offer a ‘skip the queue’ or fast turnaround service? If so, what would make it worthwhile?
Do I need a ‘fuck off price’ to deter painful clients? If so, what would feel good?
Am I undervaluing the results I give to clients?
Michelle Blicava, CEO of Consulting Surveyors National, Australia informed the Wisconsin Society of Professional Surveyors in the Get Kids into SurveyKeynote (see 2mins 20secs in) on Wednesday 27th January that every year 5 years they do a study into the need for Surveyors in Australia; the latest report shows that they are 2000 surveyors short every year until 2028!
Now’s the time to take action! Demand is out there! Put up your prices.
Do tiny little tweaks, you don’t have to do them perfectly!
Denise Duffield-Thomas
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Thanks for reading to the bottom. I appreciate you!
Stay safe. Stay sane. Wear a fabulous mask!
I’ll be back on 11th February 2021
Elaine
