I was proud to be part of the Big Advice Day last week as part of Small Charities Week 2019. The event in Bradford was run by Bradford Council, Participate and Community Action Bradford and District, People Can and sponsored by JELF and Marble For Life.

I was part of the expert marketing panel along with Totaal and Agency for Good and we were interested to hear the sort of marketing issues that were concerning local organisations. One question that really stuck with me was “Where do we actually start with marketing”. This came after we have covered everything from who your stakeholders are, where to source logos and printing to whether or not to use social media scheduling and how much things should cost.

It can feel overwhelming to think about all the marketing activity you could be engaging in; but what came through clearly from all the panel members was to think things through before jumping in.

Start with a good understanding of:

• Where you are and where you want to go
• What are your products/services and their unique selling points (what problems are you solving)
• Who are your stakeholders (staff, customers, services users, community, funders, pressure groups)
• What are your resources for marketing (time, budget, people)

If you try to start specific marketing activity, without doing the due diligence on the strategy then you run the risk of losing sight of what you are trying to achieve. One person likened it to going to the supermarket without a shopping list. I know when I do that, I end up with all sort of things I didn’t go in for and usually spend a good 30% more than I planned to.

So don’t panic about the volume of things you could do, just start somewhere. As Indira Gandi said “You can break that big plan into small steps and start the first step right away”

Make your first step a free no obligation chat about where you are at and consider a more detailed marketing assessment to start moving forward. Click here to get in touch.