Author Archives: strategyaudit

About strategyaudit

StrategyAudit is a boutique strategy and marketing consultancy concentrating on the challenges of the medium sized manufacturing businesses that make up the backbone of our economy. The particular focus is on their strategic and marketing development. as well as the business and operational efficiency improvements necessary for day to day commercial survival. We not only give advice, we go down "into the weeds" to ensure and enable implementation.

Moving on

After what seems to be a blip in time, but really almost 5 years, and over 1200 posts on strategyaudit.wordpress.com. I finally got around to taking my own advice, and moving onto my own hosting using my domain. From now … Continue reading

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Retailers greatest new e-tool

Want to show prospective customers your range, layout, this weeks specials, or the new greatest design? Google business view uses the same technology as streetview to give browsers a view of the inside of your business. The most obvious immediate … Continue reading

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Mapping Social Media

Most Aussies will probably recognise the diagram above, the London Underground. The first time anyone arrives in London, an underground map is  a vital piece of paper, even in these days of mobile phone enabled GPS tools. The underground system … Continue reading

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Start with the things you can do.

No business can do everything, so the easy way to start is to do the thing you can do well, as long as it is at least partly the thing that also makes you different. In a suburb not far … Continue reading

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Mixed marketing metaphors.

I have a mate who is an academic economist, a really smart guy used to arguing a point of view, and with a box of stats on call to support any contention he makes, alternatively to pull down anything that … Continue reading

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3 points to measure e-marketing productivity.

When looked at from the “helicopter perspective ” there seems to be three points of threshold competitive activity that you simply have to get right, or all else is irrelevant. Having a few meaningful measures at those three points is … Continue reading

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5 practises for successful blogging

  Over the weekend, my sister, a writer, called me a “blogging machine”, recognising the challenge of producing 3 or 4 worthwhile posts a week. Caught me a bit by surprise, because I just blog, write about what seems important … Continue reading

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Beginners guide to SEO

Seeking a simple metaphor to explain how SEO fits into a digital strategy to a “digitally challenged” client running a successful small business, I struck upon the map of the London Underground. If you look at the map, there are … Continue reading

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The sure way to make a significant profit.

How many monopolies have you seen that do not make a good profit? Very few I bet. On the other hand, how many very sensible, responsible, customer focussed businesses in competitive markets have you seen go to the wall? Which … Continue reading

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6 reasons you might be “engaged”.

Many put forward the notion of “Engagement” as the objective of Social Media and web based activity, it crops up with the regularity of a hot dog seller at a big football game. However, I have yet to see a … Continue reading

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2 vital and connected KPI’s for SME’s

Share of wallet, share of attention Share of Wallet is, very simply, your share of an existing customers total purchases in a domain you service. You can fiddle at the edges in the way you define the domain, but it … Continue reading

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The 3 things that REALLY matter in social media?

  There are lots of so called “measures” that get touted as  being able to deliver useful insights into the effectiveness and productivity of investments made in Social Media. Many tell you nothing of value, and are often misleading, but … Continue reading

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6 ways to increase the impact of your story.

Marketing is all about stories, the journey taken that the reader can identify with in some way. Blog posts are just short stories, by another name, and by following the rules of stories, can be more interesting, engaging, and ultimately, … Continue reading

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You can go nude at home

Your facebook, linkedin accounts, and all the other social media platforms with which you interact are not home, they are places you visit, and perhaps rent a space to leave something behind for storage and easier access and use. They … Continue reading

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SEO through Google’s eyes.

First let it be clear that I am neither a “power-user” of the increasing suite of tools supplied by Google, or an SEO expert. What I do is approach strategy from the perspective of the potential consumer of that strategy, … Continue reading

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Business of Social Media.

The business function of Social Media is to spread the message, and make sales. Each platform differs in the balance between the “Social” and “business” focus but nevertheless, they are essentially the digital equivalent of a social gathering. Some are … Continue reading

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6 imperatives for effective SME email marketing.

Cold emails are usually no more welcome that a cold phone call. However, For small businesses, the emergence of email marketing has transformed the opportunities they have to communicate, but so many fail to do some pretty simple things before … Continue reading

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6 strategies to be successful, in everything

  In life, and all its aspects, business, social , relationships, there are no shortcuts, just easier and simpler ways of doing things. It is just that it takes time and effort to find the easier, more productive, and value … Continue reading

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Barbed wire networking

Man has always found ways to communicate, Social media is not new, it is just the tools we are using today are upgrades of those we used yesterday. Alex Bell patented the telephone in 1876, after many inventors had played … Continue reading

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5 classic marketing steps that still work.

In 1968 a seminal Book called “Consumer behaviour”  Engel, Blackwell & Kollat described the 5 steps in the marketing process that dominated marketing thinking for the next 45 years. It is clear that they are still as valid now as … Continue reading

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