Planet Client | Case study: finding the right marketing mix

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WICKLAND Westcott is a UK human resources consultancy, and has reaped the rewards from recently reviewing its marketing strategy. Co-owner Colin Mercer takes up the story.

The right marketing mix: Identify strengths and weaknesses
"We were doing well, but our marketing was hit-and-miss. One positive was that customer research showed we had a good reputation for quality service. One negative was that a number of our systems did not work well.”

The company used this research to discover why its core customers buy, and on the back of this it:

1. Developed a network of partnerships;

2. Increased brand awareness;

3. Repositioning itself as a strategic thinker in its chosen market; and

4. Got a greater volume of business through referrals.

The right marketing mix: Work to a plan
"With clear objectives set, drafting and implementing a marketing plan was easier,” says Colin. ”We altered both our marketing mix and our approach to marketing.”

Among the changes were:

1.Its printed newsletter was made more customer-focused by including market briefings. The company has since had several approaches from new clients who have received it.
2.It stepped up marketing via its network of partners, so that they could promote Wickland Westcott services to their clients. “Now, about 20 per cent of what we bill is to partners, rather than end users,” says Colin.
3.It began getting articles published in relevant trade journals, which raised brand awareness and enhanced its reputation. It also uses reprints of the articles as a direct marketing tool.

Colin adds: "We update the marketing plan every six months. As a result of one review, we decided to attend a trade conference, and this worked very well for us, generating many new leads."

The right marketing mix: Targeting existing clients
“To market effectively to this group we needed a better customer database than we had,” reveal Colin. “It's just as well we did update it, because we found that 40 per cent of entries contained errors, duplications or were irrelevant. If we'd marketed to our the old database we'd have wasted a lot of time and money.”

Colin says they nominated one person internally to take responsibility for the database, and that now it's kept up to date meticulously. “We also use bought-in contact databases to help us target new customers," he says.

The right marketing mix: What I’d do differently
"We were slow to realise that the content we had on our website and in other marketing literature was a gold mine,” says Colin. “It can be repackaged in many ways. For example, a case study written for the web can be used as a mail shot, as the basis for a magazine article or as a handout for meetings.”

This case study was sourced by UK government-funded advisory body Businesslink, a free business advice and support service.