George Magazine

Parting thought | Communication Maximise your What are the foundations of good marketing? In my view, there are three pillars to good marketing. The first is finding a strong customer insight. Without understanding the drivers for their buying decisions, it's hard to make your marketing relevant to your customer. The second pillar is market knowledge. Marketing messages are received within the context of the market; what your competitors are saying, what the broader economy and industry is experiencing and so on. The third is making sure you have a clear and measurable marketing objective that aligns to a business objective. Having measurable objectives means you know the return on investment and when it's delivering business outcomes. What kinds of different marketing campaigns are there? A brand campaign, for example, will take a different shape to a customer acquisition campaign, and a customer retention campaign will be completely different again. Depending on the challenges your business is facing, any one of these can be relevant. How can a business better understand its customers' needs? Research. That can be through surveys, group discussions or online tools, which track how people interact online, how long they spend on a web page, which pages they visit and so on. Then there are tools which scan social networks for 'hot words' associated with your brand or category, tracking what's topical on any given day. One of the best ways to get closer to your customers is to talk to them or to talk to the people in your organisation that deal with your customers day-to-day, such as your sales team or your call centre consultants. What's the best way to fine-tune your marketing message? I think the best way to do that is to measure the performance of your marketing against the objectives you've set on a weekly, monthly marketing With over 20 years' experience in marketing across a number of industries, Sivea Pascale, St.George's GM Brand and Marketing, shares her insights on how marketing can help a business grow. Sivea's top tips 1. Build your marketing strategy off a customer insight. 2. Set clear and measurable objectives. 3. Measure progress and adjust your tactics. 4. If it's not working, do something about it. 5. Focus on marketing outcomes, not marketing output. or quarterly basis. It's important to track performance objectively against set targets – you need to understand why something is or isn't performing and then act on what you find out. I've had my share of successes and failures and one of the toughest decisions is to pull a campaign when it's not working. But you've just got to do it – it's a business you're running. How do you choose the right media channels for your message (print, online, TV, radio etc)? The choice is endless, which in itself should be fantastic, but it can be worse if you haven't bedded down the foundation of your marketing strategy. You've got to be channel agnostic and let the marketing objective and customer insight give you the answer. If you find yourself thinking "I've got to use social media" or "I've got to use TV" before you've decided on the objective, be careful that you're not being blind- sided by the shiny new thing – or by the tried-and-tested. How can you tell whether a marketing campaign has been effective or not? I believe in the saying that 'If you can't measure it, you can't manage it'. There are measures of effectiveness for everything. Know what success looks like: if you don't know or can't figure it out, you may want to consider whether it's worth doing. The information and opinions contained within George magazine (henceforth referred to as 'the Information') are provided for, and are to be used only by persons in Australia. The Information may not comply with the laws of another jurisdiction. The Information is general in nature and does not take into account the particular needs, objectives or financial situation of any potential reader. Please read the disclosure document for details about St.George products. It does not constitute, and should not be relied on as financial or investment advice or recommendations (expressed or implied) and is not an invitation to take up securities or other financial products or services. No decision should be made on the basis of the Information without first seeking expert financial advice. Information is current at the time of publication and is subject to change. St.George owns copyright in the Information unless otherwise indicated. The Information should not be reproduced, distributed, linked or transmitted without our written consent. St.George does not guarantee the accuracy of any information or advice provided by third parties. Where this magazine contains third party advertisements and links to third party sites, St.George Bank does not make any representation as to the accuracy or suitability of any of the information contained in those advertisements or sites and does not accept any responsibility or liability for the conduct or content of those advertisements and sites and the offerings made by the third parties. Third party advertisements and links to other sites where goods or services are advertised are not endorsements or recommendations by St.George Bank. Your access to or use of them is at your own risk. St.George Bank does not monitor the linked websites for accuracy or content, and does not necessarily endorse the information contained thereon. St.George Bank, a division of Westpac Banking Corporation, ABN 33 007 457 141 AFSL & Australian credit license 233714. Sivea Pascale GM Brand and Marketing, St.George 48 George www.stgeorge.com.au/george

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