Marketing help through mentoring
- By Lisa Ellison
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- 07 Mar, 2021
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Let me tell you about this new mentoring service...
After my first year of providing a range of marketing services through Liontooth, I have found myself offering more and more advice, guidance and tips. This has made me realise that there's a real need for a service that enables people to carry out their own marketing and maintain ownership of it.
With this in mind, I am now providing a new service – mentoring.
Rather than handing it over to someone else and paying for the convenience of them carrying out the activities, there are plenty of people who do have the time and resources but perhaps not the knowledge and know-how. This is where mentoring could be your golden ticket to improving your marketing, without the price tag.
This might be something you need, as the owner of a small business; it might be something you need as the manager of a junior marketer, to free up your time to concentrate on more strategic business plans; whatever the need, this is something I will be able to help with.
If any of these questions or statements sound familiar, you could benefit from mentoring:
- "We've got a junior marketing administrator but they're not clear on how or why to plan ahead with the social media."
- "I hear brand personality mentioned a lot and tone of voice but I don't really understand it or the relevance to what I'm doing."
- "I've got a marketing plan and I've got a social media plan, is that right?"
- "What sort of hashtags should I be using?"
- "I need to get people from my social media, onto my website and into my membership zone."
- "How can I make my social media posts look more professional?"
- "I've got 5000 contacts in my database, shall I just send them the same email?"
These are common questions that I get asked and what often happens is that I answer one question, it almost pulls at a thread and more questions come rushing through. This is the best way to learn, on the job, applying it practically to what you're doing and seeing the results.
What qualifies me to answer these questions?
- Over 10 years in marketing
- Experience in a number of industries
- I’ve worked in UK and global markets
- I have my CIM Diploma in Professional Marketing
This service will offer a more-cost effective way to get a handle on your
marketing, rather than paying someone to plan and execute everything on your
behalf, one hour a week of planning, discussion and review could be all it
takes to get you going.
I love working with people and building strong relationships. Weekly catch-ups
offers the chance for me to really get to know your business and offer the
best, most tailored advice.
As with all of my services, you are not tied into a contract so you are free to
end the working relationship whenever you feel the time is right.
Think of it like learning to ride a bike, I can be your stabilisers until you
feel more confident.
Jamie Laing - before you roll your eyes and scroll on, hear me out. (I know, the photo gave away my cliff hanger!) You may have been one of the 50,000+ people that saw my LinkedIn post last week, very much a throw away passing comment, essentially, to say I drove past Jamie Laing on my way home from the school run whilst he was on his fundraising mission for Children In Need.
I followed the story closely last week, quite hooked on his progress and whether or not he would make it. I'm not a celebrity-obsessed person and I rarely engage with anything celebrities do but last week was different and I'm sure I'm not the only one. I believe that many people didn't know he was even embarking on that challenge until last week - I didn't and I listen to Radio 1 daily! I also believe there's a lot of people that either don't know who Jamie Laing is or do know and don't particularly like him - we can't please everyone!
So, what was it about his fundraising effort that gripped the nation and led to him raising over £2m?! It's all about the story. And *this* is a great example of marketing done well - with an emphasis on storytelling and humanising your brand. His fundraising effort, backed by BBC Radio 1 coverage, provides a perfect case study on the power of storytelling in marketing. His journey emphasised his struggle, determination, vulnerability and honesty and that played a pivotal role in engaging the public emotionally and driving donations. If his personal narrative hadn’t been shared so openly, it’s unlikely that such a significant amount would have been raised.
This is something I've also experienced in fundraising efforts that I've been involved in and it makes all the difference but it takes strength to be vulnerable, and I'll always admire those who found the strength to tell their story (you know who you are 💛).
Here's what we can learn about the value of storytelling in marketing:
Emotional connection drives action : Jamie's story wasn't just about asking for donations; it was about sharing his personal experience and struggles throughout last week. People are more likely to connect with a cause when they can empathise with the storyteller. In marketing, emotional engagement creates a bond between the audience and the brand, making them more likely to engage.
Vulnerability builds trust : By being honest and vulnerable about his efforts and the challenges he faced, Jamie Laing built trust with the Radio 1 listeners. Vulnerability *humanises* a brand. In marketing, being transparent and acknowledging (and addressing!) flaws can enhance credibility and build a stronger, more authentic relationship with consumers.
Narrative creates value : Jamie Laing didn’t just promote an event, he shared a compelling and authentic story about his commitment. In marketing, your story can be the difference betwe en blending in and standing out. Crafting a narrative around your brand or product creates meaning, making it more likely to stick in the minds of consumers.
Great - now how can you implement this in your marketing?
If you have ever worked with me, you'll have heard me going on about the importance of authenticity. This applies to everything from branding to customer service. If a brand is transparent about its processes, challenges and goals, customers are more likely to engage and support it.
Emotion drives engagement - whether it’s a product, service or cause, storytelling can create an emotional connection that compels action.
Consistent storytelling over time, where customers can see growth and commitment, helps keep them invested.
So basically, Jamie Laing’s Children In Need campaign demonstrated that storytelling - driven by vulnerability, determination and honesty, was the key to the level of success in his fundraising last week.
For marketers, it highlights that connecting with people on an emotional level, telling authentic stories and leveraging the right platforms can make all the difference in achieving success.
It can feel difficult to build emotion into corporate marketing but there's ALWAYS room to be human.
Sometimes I'll get a message to my inbox referencing my marketing agency
👀 God no! I'm
not an agency! No
. Sorry, no.
I'm a 1.5-person band. (The other half is my husband who's a silent partner, providing the incredible design skills). I don't want to be thought of as a marketing agency. For me it has connotations of frustration, waiting, chasing, and to be fair, more often than not incredible results but still.
I'm a no-nonsense , to the point communicator .
I like to be efficient and get stuff done and that includes getting results for my clients . I like the fact I'm basically flying solo with this, it's easy. It's straightforward. It's DONE.
Let me give you context and insight...
I have experience with agencies from BOTH sides - I've been the client AND the service provider. Honestly, I had challenges with both. See if anything sounds familiar:
From a client perspective , my biggest frustrations were always...
- The huge bill. Sorry guys, I always found it eye watering even though I wasn't paying!
- Not being able to get hold of my point of contact and waiting whilst others frantically ran around trying to get answers for me.
- I felt bad for (and frustrated about) the person playing piggy in the middle. I couldn't speak to Studio to get answers or explanations about design issues/challenges/restrictions. Information was often lost in transit.
As the service provider , (for me) these were my biggest frustrations...
- There too many systems and processes that got in the way of me just getting on and providing the level of service I wanted to.
- Too many other cogs in the wheel slowing down the process.
- Too many hoops to jump through and restrictions.
