How I Can Help

Advertising is about raising awareness of your company and your products and services. A well-designed advert can do a lot - if designed and targeted well.

All too often we see adverts that don't market the company very well at all. They either contain too much information, use poor quality images, are designed by someone who thinks they know about design but obviously doesn't, and they don't always contain the critical 'call to action'.

I work with professionally qualified designers who design corporate messages or campaign specific advertisements and together we help identify the best media (online and offline) to attract the most interest. We also directly liaise with the publications to negotiate placement and rates - taking the hassle out of you placing advertisements.

I also act as your Media Office fielding all sales calls from publications wanting to sell you advertising space that you might not need or want. I analyse publications for their content, readership and circulation to ascertain if they're the right publications for your specific marketing needs.

I'm in the business of communication. I believe content is king. Stylish design will get attention once, but compelling interesting content will draw readers back time after time.

Chris Worth, a well known, internationally recognised e-marketer writes about 'going Gonzo' - make what you say really stand for what you believe in. That might mean writing copy that is hard hitting and frank. My own web site is written in a style that fosters a reaction - whether it's good or bad. That's our aim. I don't expect everyone to like it, but it ensures that people know about me, who I am  and how I think.

Producing text that's interesting to read and clearly gets your message across is not as easy as it sounds. Take the time to read some of your own marketing material and judge for yourself!

I write copy for internal & external communications including announcements, articles, brochures, promotional literature, advertisements and websites.

Organising events can be arduous, painful even. Luckily, I have high pain barriers, and will save you the hassle of liaising with seventeen different participants, one of whom will only come to the party if he can have a bowl of brown Smarties to eat.

Whatever the size of event, I can help including: sourcing the right venue, venue liaison, planning, liaising with speakers, invitation design, collating delegate responses, designing presentation templates, creating delegate badges, as well as providing support on the day.

I also provide project management for clients attending exhibitions. I work to ensure the stand is professionally designed, liaising with external suppliers as required, exhibitor forms are all completed and submitted on time, identify any press opportunities, produce promotional materials and giveaways and have even been known to provide client's with additional physical resources during the event itself.

How do you communicate with your customers?

Do you even communicate with them?!

Want help defining the messages that you want to share with an audience?

Whatever the media (online, offline and somewhere in between), I can help you devise key messages about your business and about your product/service and create a plan for regular communication.

I help clients issue press releases and editorial to media, regularly update their website, issue newsletters to their customers, send sales / promotional emails and keep social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube up to date.

I also assist with internal communications - something that's sometimes forgotten. You may be launching an internal project, a new tool or introducing new changes where you need full staff engagement. Your staff are your embassadors so it's important that they know what's going on and understand the key messages.

Staff and other stakeholders need to be treated as importantly as your customers. We've all experienced phone calls to staff in large organisations who don't fully represent the same ethos that we see in expensive advertising campaigns. Ensure you invest in internal communications too.

Some businesses just need to know they're heading in the right direction and a conversation with Sharon can put them on the right track.

Whether it's a one off consultation or a more regular monthly retainer, Sharon can give that independent third party advice on any aspect of marketing. Whether it's acting as a Marketing Mentor and agreeing actions and chasing to ensure you've completed them, or delivering agreed marketing actions on your behalf, having a sounding board can really help.

Once you have a marketing strategy, you can work on a marketing plan. This is where I get my hands dirty and provide practical action plans for the delivery of your marketing activities. These activities are bespoke to each company and will depend on your budget, time and the product/service you are selling.

Working with Blue Orange I will devise a marketing strategy which outlines:

· your internal strengths and weakness and the external opportunities and threats (a SWOT analysis)

· what you're trying to achieve as a company (your aims and objectives)

· what you are selling (your products/services)  and what makes these unique/different from competitors

· your growth strategy

· who you're trying to sell to (your market)

· the specific groups of people you want to satisfy (your market segments)

· who else is doing the same or similar (your competitors)

· your key marketing messages

· how much money you've got to spend marketing your business(your budget)

· what marketing activities you've done to date

· your marketing tactics

Fancy seeing your name or face in the paper or in a national magazine? It's easy if there's a good story to tell.

This is where Sharon gets to be nosey and finds out what's going on in your company. Many people think they're not doing anything newsworthy. That's where you're wrong! There are so many good things happening within companies that they simply take for granted.

I can take something you're doing and turn it into a news story and liaise with your suppliers and/or clients if you need an external quote.

If you're looking to place an advert on a website or online directory and want a banner advert that stands out from the crowd, then give me a call. I work with professionally trained designers who can design static banners or animated banners that encompass your key marketing messages and branding.

e-Communications refers to how you communicate online or electronically such as e-newsletters, emails and more recently social media.

Email newsletters and promotional emails are affordable and easy to use, but you need to ensure that the design of these is consistent with your offline brand and your online website, and that the content strikes a chord with recipients.

Our email inboxes are getting jammed with more and more junk mail (just like our paper in boxes used to!), so make sure your e-communications isn't one of them. And if a recipient doesn't want your e-communications anymore? Make it easy for them to opt-out (in fact it's a legal requirement). Using online software and tools specifically set up to manage e-communications does all this for you. But you still need to design them and write them.

More companies are using social media as a communications channel. But few have a social media strategy - do you?

If you're going to use social media (Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, YouTube etc) then you need to be clear on why you are doing it, what results you want and what guidance you're going to give your staff.

I can also help you with the graphic design for your social media sites so there is consistent branding across social media tools that ties in with your existing offline and online branding.

Some clients want help with regular posts to these sites. Nothing beats working in your company and being at the heart of what's going on, but I can help plan and devise content to ensure your sites remain active and interesting.

At Blue Orange Marketing I can hold your hand, help you get started and ensure you make the most out of using these social media sites as a communications channel.