a new sales lead generation
service from n. b. marketing

It’s a fact of business life that selling products or services first entails telling prospective customers who you are and what you can offer them. Targeted marketing will deliver appropriate information or offers to potential customers who are known to be interested in the type of service, product, event or experience you are offering to provide, and create a sales lead.

We have just launched SmartMark, a new marketing service that combines intelligent email marketing with professional telemarketing to generate sales enquiries. The service is operated in association with 2buy1click, a specialist internet and email marketing service provider.

We are delighted that the SmartMark service has been adopted by the Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce. Chamber members have been asking for marketing support from the Chamber and SmartMark is a new Gold Service that will help generate new sales enquiries for those that use it.

The first step is to have a targeted list of prospective customers that is compliance-checked against the various direct marketing regulations governing the way companies and organisations contact prospective customers in the UK. These include…

- Mail Preference Service
- Telephone Preference Service
- Fax Preference Service
- Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003

It makes little commercial sense to send unsolicited marketing messages to those who have gone to the trouble of registering their lack of interest in receiving information by whatever means, so opt-in, or permission-based marketing, is really just good practice.

Promotional information and offers are sent to the target list in a personalised e-newsletter. SmartMark service users can provide the content for us to create and send the newsletter, or we can write the content for you.

SmartMark is different because it uses electronic technology to collect information on who is interested in which aspects of your e-newsletter and allows you access to this information in a full report.

Once we know who your prospects are and what they’re interested in, one of our professional telemarketers will call to stimulate further interest. If the call results in a genuine sales lead it will be passed back to you.

For more information and a quote to start generating sales leads for your business, call the SmartMark Hotline: 01733 843783

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Community spirit

The concept of giving away professional advice for free is a little unusual, yet that is exactly what we do through an initiative called ProHelp.

ProHelp is a national network of over 1,000 professional firms, each of which provides advice and strategic support free of charge to local not-for-profit community groups and voluntary organisations. Our team has been a contributing member of the Peterborough ProHelp group for two years, helping several local firms with company identities, branding, marketing plans and PR.

Fenland Council for Voluntary Service was one such organisation. Established in 2001 to improve the quality of life for Fenland citizens by encouraging, promoting, supporting and developing the work of voluntary organisations and groups in the district. A key part of promoting their services was to establish a brand identity that raised the organisation’s visibility and created awareness and recognition of their services.

Roger Lymburn, Chief Officer of Fenland CVS said, “As a small VCS organisation marketing and graphic design are not our strengths. Having been introduced to n.b. marketing through the ProHelp scheme organised by Business in the Community, we were able to explain our requirements. n. b. marketing were extremely helpful, interpreting our brief accurately and producing a good range of options for us to consider. We are delighted with the results and feel sure that this work will help the future development of our organisation.”

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Creating an effective email

Email may have revolutionised the way we communicate, and is the latest marketing tool, but it’s still easy to make fundamental mistakes.

Here are some simple rules to make sure your e-marketing communication is read and responded to:

• Make sure the subject line is short and informative. The subject is frequently used as a method of filtering emails, so it is important to convey key information about the content in a sufficiently engaging way.
• Keep it short and well written. Most people receive many emails a day and so rarely spend long on each one. Keep your writing to the point, use plain English, check your spelling and grammar, use bullets and headings to emphasise key information.
• Make it personal, keeping the tone friendly and courteous. Use a personal email address if possible. Emails sent to a generic address are more likely to be filtered out by SPAM blockers.
• Make it clear how the reader needs to respond – by reply email, by calling a number or by clicking a link.

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Design & copy writing – a perfect match!

When it comes to marketing communication it is surprising how often copy content is considered separately to design. Which comes first – copy or design? Needless to say they both work in tandem. A great looking brochure may attract the eye, but if it’s not well written it won’t get read. A technical manual containing full product details, instructions and specifications may provide everything the user needs to know, but if it’s not written with the reader in mind, or attractively laid out in a way that’s easy to follow, it quickly becomes user unfriendly.

Being a marketing company our approach is to consider the content, which includes both copy and design, first and foremost. That’s why we  provide combined copy writing and design services for all sorts of marketing material including direct mail, brochures and leaflets, websites, product catalogues, technical guides and instruction manuals, trade press advertising, editorial articles, packaging  and point of sale materials.

We have helped product managers translate technical terminology into plain English and produced clear, concise technical manuals. We have transformed tired-looking brochures and sales literature in desperate need of a new lease of life as well as creating new showcase material, managing the content, writing the copy and designing the piece in one seamless operation.

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Giving children their future back

So says the strap line of national children’s charity, Barnardo’s, whose work has been supported by n. b. marketing along with other Peterborough businesses as the collective Peterborough Fund Raising Committee.

Every year, since forming the group in 1999, we have taken a leading role in planning, organising and promoting an annual fund raising event. In total we have helped raise over £30,000 for Barnardo’s

For the past two years the group has organised a glittering star-studded Question of Sport-style event to raise money for Barnardo’s.

And what a night the 2005 event was! The final celebrity quiz team line-up included international athletics star Colin Jackson, Olympic swimmers Mark Foster, Karen Pickering and Stephen Parry, snooker legend Willie Thorne, Posh goalkeeper Mark Tyler, equestrian three day-eventer Sarah Cutteridge and Olympic shot putter Geoff Capes. BBC Radio Five Live presenter, Bob Ballard, was the question master for the evening.

This year’s Celebrity Sport Quiz is taking place at 7pm on Thursday, 19th October at the Cambridge Suite, East of England Show ground.

For more information contact the event hotline: 0870 906 0693.

Contact us for more information on any of these services
Tel: 0870 906 0690
www.business-growth.net

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And finally...

• Congratulations to team member Claire Enness on the birth of her first child, Dylon.
• Welcome to Lorraine Bourner, who has stepped in to cover Claire’s maternity leave, and to Laura Nichols, who joins us in the new role of marketing assistant.
• Well done to Paula, Alison and the two Dawns for successfully completing the Peterborough Race for Life and raising £500 for breast cancer – and, most importantly, thanks to all of you who sponsored us!

Left to right: Dawn Cooke, Paula Finch,
Alison Crossman, Dawn Morris