/index.php/site/index/ en clive@fms-com.com Copyright 2012 2012-04-19T16:44:28+00:00 /index.php/site/marketing_agency_-_kent/ /index.php/site/marketing_agency_-_kent/#When:16:44:28Z {summary}We’re proud of our heritage as a Kent marketing agency and of our record of providing succesful marketing for clients in Kent, the South East and the UK since 1994.     2012-04-19T16:44:28+00:00 /index.php/site/marketing_led_social_media/ /index.php/site/marketing_led_social_media/#When:16:29:32Z {summary}We use our marketing experience and expertise to harness the power of social media and develop effective, marketing led social media strategies.   Why use FMS to manage your social media? Setting up and running marketing led social media accounts takes a significant investment of time and effort Often many businesses and organisations don’t have enough internal resource to allocate to this task Even where resource exists, other ‘paid for’ or what are perceived as more ‘revenue generating’ activities take priority with social media often falling down the list of priorities Building relevant targeted social media following takes a lot of careful research, know-how and investment of time As a dedicated and focused resource we can ensure that: your social media following is actively built to reflect your target audience you have a relevant on-going presence in social media and use it as an effective tool in helping acheive your aims   How we help Setting out of objectives, determining who you want to talk to, and outlining the messages that you’d like to communicate Setting up of accounts / groups including the profile copy for each site, the draft of the messages, and agreement of on-going message framework and copy A schedule of postings for the month, using your key messages to ‘steer’ the content (we would recommend mixing ‘corporate messages’ with other messages of relevant interest to the target audience) A monthly activity report from our Social Media Management software including recommendations for future activity A maximum of 60 relevant messages per site / account per month (NB Direct messages or contact from site visitors as a result of this activity are sent directly to our clients for action) Active contact building and promotion of your social media accounts including identifying, engaging with, and building relationships with advocates of your brand Increasing relevant following / membership of accounts / groups to extend the reach of your brand and engage with target audiences to help underpin your brand messages     2011-11-02T16:29:32+00:00 /index.php/site/is_the_content_of_your_advertising_working_hard_enough/ /index.php/site/is_the_content_of_your_advertising_working_hard_enough/#When:10:46:01Z {summary}At FMS we have a fascination with ‘content’ and subscribe to David Ogilvy’s view that ‘What really decides consumers to buy, or not to buy, is the content of your advertising, not its form”. Good creative is crucial - whatever the media - particularly in the current environment where budgets are under pressure to work that much harder. It will help ‘outpunch’ the weight of the associated media campaign and will, at the very least, make it more effective. Conversely, poor creative can hamper a well planned and well executed media strategy. There can be an imbalance in the relationship between media and creative - it often seems that the focus is on media (rather than creative) because this tends to be the lion’s share of the budget. We believe that good creative work is worth investing in, and should be subject to at least the same level of attention as media! We use a simple but effective set of criteria to evaluate the creative work we produce. It is grounded in our understanding of brands, consumer behaviour and market dynamics and our ability to get to know our clients, their brands, and the way their brands work. In our view a good piece of creative work should: Express the essence / personality of the brand / concept Engage with the audience it is intended for Communicate the proposition quickly, simply, powerfully and effectively Have ‘stand out’/ be distinctive Be scalable Work across all media channels If it ticks all of these boxes, it’s likely that your message will be working at least as hard as the media in delivering your campaign objectives. 2010-04-12T10:46:01+00:00 /index.php/site/branding/ /index.php/site/branding/#When:16:12:19Z {summary}Of all the tasks faced in running a successful business getting your organisation onto the ‘shopping list’ of potential customers is one of the most crucial. In a world where consumers are faced by what seems to be an ever increasing number of choices, it’s never been more important for businesses to make sure that potential and existing customers know what they stand for, what makes them different, what makes them stand out from the crowd. How companies communicate this, how they portray their brand and its values, has a real impact on their success. So, what is a brand? In its simplest form it can be seen as nothing more than a label or logo. But if it’s really that simple, why then, is it generally perceived that some labels are better than others!? It’s because brands stand for something, they have a value. These values can be easily evident, intangible, or a mixture of the two, but whatever the scenario, they are critically important in differentiating a brand from its competitors. Pragmatically, they deliver a ‘promise’ by authenticating a product or service, making a pledge of satisfaction and quality. Emotionally, they create a collection of perceptions in the mind of the consumer against which they will measure the experience of buying and using that product or service. The most enduring, successful and profitable businesses are those that have clearly defined values that not only engage with their target audience, but which also manifest themselves at every point at which customers come into contact with the company. This is how McDonald’s, Coca Cola, Amazon and Google have evolved to become some of the world’s most successful brands. It’s also instrumental in brands being able to leverage profitability - providing more perceived ‘value’ often results in being able to charge a premium for it. Branding is an essential tool in delivering company profitability. It helps differentiate a company’s offering from its competitors, creates ‘stand out’ and gets products and services onto the shopping list of potential customers. It can create real and perceived value that customers are prepared to pay more for (and keeps businesses away from being a ‘commodity’ where the lowest common denominator is price and profit margins become increasingly eroded). Three simple steps can help a business on the way to becoming a successful brand: 1. Determine the values of the business - those attributes that will most appeal to customers in making it stand out from the crowd.2. Bring these values to life in every customer facing facet of the business. Remember that a brand is more than a name, label or logo. It is a promise that is the lifeblood of a business.3. Create consistent, relevant and distinctive messages that bring the brand and its values to life giving it a strong ‘personality’ that will differentiate it from competitors. 2010-02-25T16:12:19+00:00 /index.php/site/marketing_myths/ /index.php/site/marketing_myths/#When:14:03:24Z {summary}We believe in the power of marketing and know the benefits it has to offer.There are lots of potential reasons why you may not be marketing your business but how valid are they?Don’t need to.If your business is good enough surely customers will come to you?Assuming life is really that easy, then wouldn’t everyone simply set up a business, sit back and wait for the money to come in?The fact is that marketing plays a vital role in making, and keeping, a business successful. That’s why organisations with respected products and services like McDonalds, Coca Cola and Amazon invest heavily in their marketing. Too busy.Business is good and you’re too busy with the work you already have from your customers, or your other ‘non-marketing’ responsibilities are taking over.It’s easy to believe that dealing with ongoing demand is more important than marketing, especially when deadlines are tight. But if you always follow this policy, you can end up locked into a feast or famine cycle, with no new customers waiting for you when the current spate of work is finished!If other responsibilities are taking over there’s a danger you’re focusing on the ‘here and now’ at the expense of the future. Doesn’t work.Then why do the world’s most successful brands invest so much effort into their marketing?If your current marketing isn’t working then maybe your message is unclear or the tactics you’re using don’t engage with your target audience? It may be well be time to take stock, evaluate what’s working and what’s not, and look at a fresh approach. Don’t have the budget.An effective marketing programme can be put in place from as little as 0.5% of sales (typical advertising to sales ratios vary by industry sector).Isn’t it just sensible business practice to invest a little bit of what you’re earning today in building business for tomorrow? 2010-02-11T14:03:24+00:00 /index.php/site/marketing/ /index.php/site/marketing/#When:13:56:46Z {summary}The Chartered Institute of Marketing definition of marketing is:“The management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.”We don’t disagree! Importantly, for us though, this interpretation of marketing includes the ‘P’ word - profit!In general, we believe companies make money by:• winning more customers • persuading customers to spend more • getting customers to buy more frequently• convincing customers to stay loyalThis is what marketing means to us. It’s all about helping our clients build their sales and profitability.It doesn’t matter to us whether it’s a ‘one-off’ project, or a fully integrated marketing campaign; whether it’s for a national client or a client from Kent and the South East - our focus is still the same.If you still believe that marketing’s not for you check out our marketing myths. 2010-02-11T13:56:46+00:00 /index.php/site/integrated_marketing_agency/ /index.php/site/integrated_marketing_agency/#When:17:33:17Z {summary}We want to make your marketing as effective as possible.It doesn’t matter to us how we do this, only that we can. It’s what makes us tick. For us, it’s what being ‘integrated’ is all about.We are independent, free of restrictions and have the freedom to choose the marketing options that will get the best results for your business or organisation. We enjoy knitting all the right marketing elements together. We love creating a consistent look and feel that has a point of difference and that works well across all media, online and offline. We want to deliver results, we want you to be pleased with what we do, and we want you to come back for more.These guiding principles apply whatever the piece of work - whether it’s a ‘one off’ project, an ongoing marketing campaign, or activity that involves working alongside other agencies.It’s something we’ve taken pride in delivering to our clients in Kent and the South East since 1994. 2010-02-02T17:33:17+00:00 /index.php/site/less_can_be_more/ /index.php/site/less_can_be_more/#When:12:51:02Z {summary}In the current economic climate it’s quite likely that your marketing budget has been significantly reduced and that the biggest challenge you will face is trying to continue to drive sales and profitability on a much reduced budget.So, how do you manage to keep investing in your brand so that you emerge from ‘recession’ fitter and with increased market share? At FMS we focus on the essentials - on the activities that work - and get creative about them. We explore new ways of doing things, new ideas, and challenge current thinking. We enjoy rising to the challenge of doing things differently, of being creative and using our skills and experience to get the best out of marketing budgets. Some examples: Case study 1Our client was producing a regular monthly communication that was a fundamental part of their offering.We recommended that they implement a careful, well thought through re-design which would not only help present the information more clearly and concisely, but also help make substantial savings on their print costs.By reducing the pagination from 12 to 8 pages and using a combination of colour and mono pages we were able to help the client make savings of nearly 40%.Over the financial year this equates to a total saving of over £18,000.Case study 2As a main part of its employee training our client was producing an A5 product ‘bible’ used as key selling tool by its sales consultants.The design had already been optimised so that as information changed, it was relatively simple and cost effective to update the affected pages. We wanted to take things one step further. By researching how the guide was used, and determining what information was critical to the sales process, we were able to establish that:• The pagination of each of the sections could be reduced• Some of the detail that required regular updating wasn’t really needed (creating ‘unnecessary’ reprints)• The quantity of updates being produced could be reducedBy implementing our recommendations, our client made savings of over 25%. Over the course of a year this will put almost £10,000 back into their marketing budget. To find out how FMS could help your business contact Clive on 01732 526320 or clive@fms-com.com 2010-01-20T12:51:02+00:00 /index.php/site/moco_connect/ /index.php/site/moco_connect/#When:13:25:43Z {summary}FMS have just started working with MoCo, a well established telecommunications company, set-up in 1985 to provide efficient, cost-effective communications to businesses. 24 years later, they are still independent - and network independent, which means that their customers benefit from truly impartial advice on which network is best for their business needs. They partner with the major UK mobile networks and Tier 1 fixed voice and data networks. MoCo wanted to improve the effectiveness of their monthly communications to their customers. We worked with MoCo to produce ‘Connect’ a monthly publication that: clearly signposted their key offers made information easily accessible and easy to read gave them an edge over competitors by being so user friendly The first edition was well received both internally and externally - the third edition comes out later this month!   Keep doing what you’re doing! Have you ever stopped to think <more> Location, location, location! We are now settled into our new offices, a newly converted <more> What makes design good? Good design is simple. It is founded on <more> 2009-09-21T13:25:43+00:00 /index.php/site/location_location_location/ /index.php/site/location_location_location/#When:10:04:53Z {summary}We are now fully settled in to our new offices, a newly converted stables, just a few minutes away from J4 of the M20 and West Malling mainline railway station. This puts us closer to all the major communication routes in the county, nearer to the vast majority of our clients and in a nice, green environment with parking right outside! You’re welcome to pop in for a chat if you’re passing - give us a call beforehand and we’ll even stick the kettle on!   Keep on doing what you’re doing! Have you ever stopped to think <more>  What makes design good? Good design is simple. It is founded on <more> New client on board! FMS have just started working with <more>     2009-09-21T10:04:53+00:00