BD tips and insights

Marketing and business development toolkit for 2016

February 10, 2016 | Posted in: Grow your business | Tags:

What activities and approaches should be in your professional services firm’s marketing and business development toolkit for 2016?

We’ve created a handy infographic comparing old and new tools. Old ways are not necessarily the wrong way, but there are newer – and often more effective – activities that are worth considering, and which might just prove the right way for your professional services firm.

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(Click on image to open full-sized version. If you can’t view the image, scroll down for the text version.)

Marketing and business development toolkit infographic

Infographic designed by JMA Visual Communications Consultant, Alison Garling.

Marketing and business development toolkit infographic in words

Old way

vs

New way

  • Branding & rebranding
  • Positioning
  • Attempting mass appeal – everything for anyone
  • Niche specialist appeal as a visible expert
  • Scattergun approach to see what sticks
  • Deliberate, planned, measurable campaigns & pursuits with RoI attached
  • Feeling it’s crass to ask for work
  • Adapting best practice sales techniques for a professional services setting to win work
  • Basic, static, brochure-style websites
  • Dynamic, SEO & content rich websites
  • Mass market print advertising
  • Shareable digital content & education marketing
  • Hardcopy newsletters
  • Blog posts
  • Whitepapers
  • Thought leadership videos
  • Relying on the “old boys network”
  • Mentoring & BD skills training programs for early career professionals
  • General print brochureware
  • Highly tailored capability statements & client service plans
  • Hourly rates
  • Alternative & value-driven pricing options
  • Boozy lunches
  • Targeted educational breakfast seminars
  • Interruption marketing (unsolicited direct mail & cold calling)
  • Inbound & permission education marketing to create need recognition & qualified leads
  • Billable hours targets
  • Activity as well as financial goals
  • Paid sponsorship
  • Speaking gigs
  • Paid directories (Legal rankings & Yellow pages)
  • Being found & connecting on social media
  • Written references
  • LinkedIn endorsements
  • No client feedback program
  • Published client survey results
  • Promotional merchandise & gifts
  • Corporate social responsibility
  • Christmas cards
  • Donations to charity
  • Difficult to read slabs of text
  • Data visualisation & infographics

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