Nicola Pike & Ian Pettigrew's session for CIPD Manchester Signet on 29th November 2011; How to Market professional services using social media

1. Marketing Professional Services using Social Media
Nicola Pike, Marketing Spike
Ian Pettigrew, Kingfisher Coaching

2. Nicola Pike
- Director / Marketing Consultant at Marketing Spike Limited
- I help businesses market themselves effectively and profitably through
- Marketing audit and strategy
- Research
- Communications planning
- Marketing collateral
- Public relations
- Client communications and retention
- 14+ years of marketing experience .
- Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing

3. Ian Pettigrew
- Director/Coach at Kingfisher Coaching
- Mission: Help people, teams, and organisations to achieve peak performance
by delivering on their potential
- I do this through
- 2-day ‘Coaching for Peak Performance in yourself & others’ course/workshop
- 1/2-day ‘Play to your Strengths. Live your Values’ workshop
- High-Performance Team Coaching
- 1:1 Executive Coaching
- 20+ years leadership experience in large Corporates

4. Tonight:
• How Strategy will save your business
• How to do Marketing
• How to use Social Media
• How can you use Social Media to do Marketing

5. The magic potion that will cure your sales problems....?

6. Sorry, but there is no magic pill or potion

7. Social Media is like time spent at the gym;
- it is possible to waste an awful lot of time
for no results,
- you can damage yourself,
- or you can achieve significant results!
The difference in the results is down to
being focused, intentional and
disciplined.

8. But, with some careful planning......

9. ........the right focus

11. .......and implementation of marketing activity

12. You will start to generate new business

13. ....and Social Media will be a key part of that

14. What is Marketing
& how do we do it?

15. "Marketing is the management process
responsible for identifying, anticipating and
satisfying customer requirements profitably"

17. Remember when you set up your business...?

18. Nothing has changed
It's still all about
relationships &
degrees of
separation
Source: UnMarketing
by Scott Stratten

19. Ian's "a-ha" moment
Source: UnMarketing
by Scott Stratten

20. Social Media can help to nurture those relationships
Source: UnMarketing
by Scott Stratten

21. .....and it can help to move contacts up the chain
Source: UnMarketing
by Scott Stratten

22. The ‘duct tape’ definition of Marketing:
Getting people who have a specific need or
problem that is a good fit for you:
- to know, like, and trust you
- to try you and then do business with you
- to continue to do business with you
- to refer you to others who are also a good fit
Source: Duct Tape Marketing
by John Jantsch

23. Target your ideal customers & choose the most
appropriate marketing channels

24. Who do you want to work with?
"YOUR DREAM CLIENT /REFERRER" EXERCISE
• Who are they, what do they do for a living?
• What kind of organisation do they work for?
• How big is that company?
• Where is that company located?
• What turnover does the company have?
• What issues do they face? (and where do they look for answers?)
• How could they benefit from your services?
Always have this dream client/ referrer at front
of mind when planning and executing
marketing activity. Having a defined target
audience makes life so much easier.

25. Otherwise.....

26. RETAINING EXISTING
CLIENTS AND GROWING
YOUR BUSINESS FROM
EXISTING CONTACTS

27. “It costs a business five times as
much to attract a new customer
than it does to retain an existing
customer.”
Phillip Kotler and Gary Armstrong, The Principles of Marketing

28. Do your contacts really know what you do and
what you can offer them?
ELEVATOR PITCH EXERCISE

29. Social media can create 'elevator pitch' moments
by reinforcing what you do

30. Social media can create 'elevator pitch' moments
by reinforcing what you do

31. ELEVATOR PITCH EXERCISE
You have 1 minute to explain yourself, your business, your goals and your
passions. Your 'contact' may have forgotten these and this is a great
opportunity to remind him or her.
1. Describe who you are. Keep it short (3 sentences maximum) and focus on
what you want the listener to remember about you
2. Describe what you do. This is where you state your value phrased as key
results or impact. This should allow the listener to understand how you or
your company would add value. This may become your company strap-line
3. Describe why you are unique. Show that what you do is different or better
than others. Explain the unique benefits that you and/or your company bring
to business.
4. Describe your goal. How can your contact refer business if they don't know
what you are looking for? It should be readily apparent to the listener what
you are asking of him or her. This should be a concrete, realistic and defined
goal.
The average pitch is 231 words with only 4 repeated words. It should take 56 seconds to say

32. Human nature
Networking event Google
Social Media
interaction

33. Does your brand identity and online presence
really reflect who you are and what you do?
"YOUR BRAND" EXERCISE
• Do you wear your smartest suit /outfit when networking?
• Are you on your best behaviour when networking?
• Do you try to build a rapport with people with networking?
• Do you listen carefully to what people are saying and engage in appropriate
conversation?
• What other things do you do?
• What adjectives would you use to describe you and your business?
• How would you like potential clients to describe you?
Now think about your brand identity (logo, stationery,
website, LinkedIn profile). Is this truly representing you in the
best possible light?
Don't forget that in professional services, people buy people.
Let your personality shine through.

34. Get the professionals in - Ian’s experience

35. Marketing - Plan of action
1. Be clear about your ideal client / referrer Being focused allows for more
effective marketing
2. Have clarity around your proposition. Why should people choose you and
your services?What makes you different? What's your USP?
3. Get your marketing foundations right. Are you presenting yourself and your
business in the right way? Whatever channel you use to promote and market,
potential and existing clients will always want to check you out online.

36. What is Social Media
& how do we do it?

38. Appropriate social media channels for professional
services
You should also blog but this should be part of your website (as opposed to being
separate)

39. Social Media : a free database and market research
tool
You can find these dream clients through LinkedIn and see if you are
connected in some way
LinkedIn groups allow you to monitor hot topics and issues amongst
your target audience
Unless you have a connection to an individual, it is unwise to send an
unsolicited invitation however. They key to successful marketing is to
use existing connections to open those doors

40. LinkedIn is the most important social network for those working in professional
services.
Top tip
1. Make your profile as full and complete as possible
2. Always have an up-to-date profile picture
3. Create a separate profile for your business and use all options available
(including services)
4. Connect with all of your contacts and any new ones
5. Join appropriate groups
6. Share things, comment on things, 'like' others' updates. Be proactive. This is your
chance to be front-of-mind

41. There are thousands of professionals using Twitter. Start by following and
interacting with people you know
Top tips
1. Make your profile as full and complete as possible
2. Always use a profile picture (don't be an egg!)
3. Before jumping straight in, it's a good idea to follow and observe others on
Twitter
4. Perform detailed searches to find like-minded people
5. Use tools like Hootsuite to make your time on Twitter more efficient (it can be a
time drain)
6. Share a bit of your personality on Twitter. Remember that people buy people
7. Use Twitter to build new relationships. Seek out offline opportunities to get to
know people you follow and like in the social media world

42. Niche networks are growing in importance, Don't forge the CIPD's own Professional
Community discussion boards. This provides you with an opportunity to share you
expertise with HR Directors that may wish to recruit

43. Video is growing in importance but many firms block YouTube whereas they still allow
access to Vimeo.
Video is possibly the best way to get your message and personality across
Top tips
1. You don't have to spend a fortune on video but at the same time it should
represent your brand and look professional
2. Short and snappy videos are best
3. Detailed planning is vital to the success of a good video. Be really clear about
who you are targeting, what you want to say and the key points you want to get
across

44. Kingfisher Coaching Client email newsletter

45. Linkedin

48. Website/Blog

49. Twitter

50. Kingfisher Coaching on Social Media

51. Website is ‘sticky’

52. Articles are easily shared and others visible

53. Kingfisher Coaching on Social Media
X

54. Social Media Exercise:
Given
- What you offer (elevator pitch)
- To whom (ideal client, remembering where they go for help with issues)
- And how (brand)
How are you going to:
Get people who have a specific need or
problem that is a good fit for you:
- to know, like, and trust you
- to try you and then do business with you
- to continue to do business with you
- to refer you to others who are also a good fit

55. Social Media is like time spent at the gym;
- it is possible to waste an awful lot of time
for no results,
- you can damage yourself,
- or you can achieve significant results!
The difference in the results is down to
being focused, intentional and
disciplined.

56. Marketing & Social Media - Plan of action
1. Be clear about your ideal client / referrer Being focused allows for more
effective marketing
2. Have clarity around your proposition. Why should people choose you and
your services?What makes you different? What's your USP?
3. Get your marketing foundations right. Are you presenting yourself and your
business in the right way? Whatever channel you use to promote and market,
potential and existing clients will always want to check you out online.
4.Use Social Media to develop existing relationships. Reap the rewards from
those that are closest to you. The worst thing that someone can say to you is "I
never knew you did that"
5. Use Social Media to demonstrate your expertise This cements your
credibility with existing contacts and allows them to share with their contacts
(moving others into the top tier of your pyramid)

57. The magic potion that will cure your sales problems....?
• A well-considered
X
Marketing Strategy
• Supported by an
effective Social Media
Strategy
• Delivered consistently
in everything you do