Waikato Business News March/April 2017
Waikato Business News has for a quarter of a century been the voice of the region’s business community, a business community with a very real commitment to innovation and an ethos of co-operation.
Waikato Business News has for a quarter of a century been the
voice of the region’s business community, a business community
with a very real commitment to innovation and an ethos of
co-operation.
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Online marketing<br />
strategy is not a thing<br />
The very idea of an online<br />
marketing strategy<br />
assumes that there is a<br />
difference between marketing<br />
and online marketing. This is<br />
wrong. “Online” is just another<br />
communication medium,<br />
like print, radio and television.<br />
The medium of communication<br />
should not be guiding your<br />
marketing strategy; your strategy<br />
should be used to select the<br />
correct communication mediums.<br />
Granted, technology has<br />
empowered the masses. While<br />
we still start our purchase selection<br />
process with the businesses<br />
whose brand we have been<br />
exposed to, the next step does<br />
not narrow the list. Instead we<br />
go online and use social media,<br />
search engines, and websites to<br />
see who else is out there and see<br />
if they can provide the goods<br />
cheaper, or offer a better service<br />
for your money.<br />
It’s this step that enables<br />
small businesses to take business<br />
away from the larger,<br />
well-established businesses.<br />
Of course, this also means that<br />
there are a lot more businesses<br />
competing for the consumer<br />
dollar. With so many players<br />
it’s easy to get lost in the crowd.<br />
MARKETING MATTERS<br />
> BY MEHRDAD BEHROOZI<br />
Mehrdad (Merv) Behroozi is general manager of Hamilton graphic<br />
design and web development company E9. Phone: 07 838 1188<br />
Email: merv@e9.nz<br />
It’s easy to think that an online marketing<br />
strategy is a thing, so intense is the<br />
onslaught of the worldwide web, but it’s not.<br />
To solve this problem, an<br />
entire industry has evolved<br />
around online marketing.<br />
There are businesses that<br />
work on optimising websites<br />
so they rank higher in Google<br />
searches. Others use social<br />
media platforms, such as Facebook,<br />
Instagram, and Snapchat,<br />
to engage with clients and prospects<br />
online. Others focus on<br />
securing and maintaining good<br />
user feedback on online review<br />
sites. A complete eco-system of<br />
services, applications, and technologies<br />
have been developed<br />
as a result of the rising popularity<br />
of inbound marketing.<br />
The rapid rate of technology-driven<br />
change has left businesses<br />
blinkered as cauldrons<br />
full of online marketing experts<br />
come at them with new technologies,<br />
buzzwords, case studies,<br />
statistics, and approaches to<br />
marketing online. Meetings are<br />
filled with buzzwords such as<br />
clickability, p-commerce, Cost<br />
Per Like (CPL), second-screen,<br />
Social+Local+Mobile (SoLoMo),<br />
and online marketing<br />
strategy.<br />
A small business that needs<br />
to raise awareness locally can<br />
use online services such as<br />
Facebook and Google to target<br />
locals and track success (or<br />
failure). The business can also<br />
use the traditional offline print<br />
medium of flyers which, when<br />
combined with direct marketing,<br />
allows for face to face contact<br />
with the locals.<br />
This works best when it undergirds<br />
a strategy that requires<br />
the building of personal relationship<br />
with your local community.<br />
There is very little that<br />
can beat getting out there, shaking<br />
hands, and getting to know<br />
your neighbours in person.<br />
You can then use the online<br />
medium to keep in touch,<br />
answer questions, and engage<br />
with prospects in a manner that<br />
is in line with your strategy.<br />
Your strategy will guide how<br />
your business uses Facebook<br />
or Twitter. It could, for example,<br />
require that the content of<br />
the business’s online advertisements<br />
should be based around<br />
local events, and posts should<br />
be relevant to the local community.<br />
The problem with the question,<br />
“what’s your online marketing<br />
strategy” is that it’s asking<br />
about how you are using,<br />
monitoring, and maintaining<br />
communication using the many<br />
online communication services<br />
available on the Internet. If your<br />
online marketing strategy is, “to<br />
use Facebook, Google, Twitter,<br />
or any other online communication<br />
tools”, then what you really<br />
need is a marketing strategy.<br />
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS <strong>March</strong>/<strong>April</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
Helping people enrich their lives<br />
Enrich+ is a not for profit charitable<br />
trust. Established in 1990 as<br />
Gracelands Group of Services, following<br />
years of growth, Enrich+ services<br />
are now offered throughout the greater<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> and King Country.<br />
Enrich+ work alongside individuals<br />
to develop their skills and abilities and<br />
enhance inclusion in the communities of<br />
their choice.<br />
Enrich+ recognised the need for services<br />
for those with High Functioning<br />
Autism (previously known as Asperger’s)<br />
due to a serious gap in funding and services.<br />
These people often miss out on ‘a<br />
life like any other’.<br />
Enrich+ Spectrum Energy was established<br />
in 2015, to fulfill a service need for<br />
those with Autism, their whanāu/caregivers,<br />
schools and employers.<br />
In New Zealand service provision has<br />
largely been made available to those with<br />
co-occurring conditions, such as intellectual<br />
disability or mental health diagnosis.<br />
There is very little funding available<br />
through normal channels such as government<br />
funded models. Enrich+ Spectrum<br />
Energy relies on fee based service provision,<br />
and philanthropic trust and sponsorship<br />
models.<br />
Catering for those with High<br />
Functioning Autism on an individualised<br />
basis is something Enrich+ Spectrum<br />
Energy is extremely proud of, with specialised<br />
staff having the relevant qualifications,<br />
education and experience to provide<br />
meaningful 1:1 as well as group services.<br />
Among the services provided is 1:1<br />
mentoring:<br />
· One to one and completely tailored to<br />
the individual’s needs<br />
· Flexible days and times to suit the<br />
person<br />
· Working towards personal goals,<br />
whatever these may be<br />
Examples of personal goals:<br />
· Employment<br />
· Flatting/moving out of home<br />
· Studying<br />
· Beginning a new hobby<br />
· Learning to drive<br />
· Building confidence and/or social skills<br />
· Health and wellbeing – impact of exercise<br />
and healthy living on mental health<br />
Testimonial from a parent:<br />
“Since attending mentoring sessions, my<br />
daughter has chosen to attend school<br />
camp for the first time during high school,<br />
and is interacting with extended family<br />
members for the first time without using a<br />
device as a support.”<br />
For more information, visit:<br />
www.enrichplus.org.nz/services-2/spectrum-energy/<br />
7<br />
J2307A<br />
Spy boss drops in on IoD<br />
The director of the Government<br />
Communications<br />
Security Bureau<br />
(GCSB), Andrew Hampton<br />
paid a visit to <strong>Waikato</strong> recently<br />
when he addressed an Institute<br />
of Directors <strong>Waikato</strong> branch<br />
function on what role directors<br />
should play in the area of cyber<br />
security.<br />
At a second function, also at<br />
FMG Stadium <strong>Waikato</strong>, Ngaire<br />
Best, team leader of the Appointments<br />
and Governance<br />
team within Treasury’s Commercial<br />
Operations Group who<br />
spoke about Crown Board appointments.<br />
Iod <strong>Waikato</strong> branch<br />
chairman Simon Lockwood,<br />
left and Andrew Hampton.<br />
Martin Thomas, left and Rollo Webb.<br />
Jon Calder, left and Marc Scott.