Marketing strategy.
Generate more earned income and become less reliant on difficult-to-access grant funding, with these proven marketing strategies and practical marketing plans.
Crafting your marketing strategy
Is your social enterprise short on strategic marketing capacity and unclear about how best to apply commercial methods to your charitable context?
Marketing is more than just a website and some social media action. It’s about zooming in on a very specific group of people, showing them how you can help them, and building their trust.
That’s harder than it sounds: it’s all too easy to bang on about how great your services are, without telling people which of their problems you’ll fix. And it’s focusing on fixing their problems that’ll present you as the trustworthy expert that you are, and that they need.
My marketing process delivers marketing strategies rooted in four practical areas of research: your current situation, objectives, target audiences and the most suitable tactics to achieve your goals.
These areas then guide a pragmatic marketing plan that’s sized according to your available resources, financial considerations (realistic costs, your ROI expectations and budgets availability) and target metrics.
- Generate earned income through better marketing strategies and practical marketing plans
- Build new partnerships, support more beneficiaries and generate unrestricted funds for your wider charitable purpose
- Stop wondering if your comms team is working on the right stuff
Which organisations have I helped?
Groundwork is a federation of trusts that operates across the UK. They asked me to help build a national marketing strategy and a plan for their Green Doctor service.
Green Doctor provides energy-saving advice and practical help for Housing Associations and Local Authorities across the UK. Many of Groundwork’s local trusts deliver Green Doctor but its national footprint was in its infancy.
The first step in my plan was to develop a national micro-site within Groundwork’s main website. I then oversaw the delivery of a 9-month content marketing pilot. This was based around free lunchtime webinars delivered by Green Doctor experts and promoted mainly by email. It delivered a steady stream of new business enquiries; plans are currently afoot to embed ongoing marketing into the organisation.
After the success of my national marketing strategy for Green Doctor, Groundwork asked me to do the same thing for their Landscape Architecture service. The strategy and plan are complete and we’re just beginning to work on the delivery. Watch this space!
"Ned's brought some great strategic thinking to our digital marketing work, helping us to pinpoint where we might have most impact and designing the tools and resources we need to get ourselves noticed."
Graham Duxbury, Chief Executive Officer, Groundwork UK
"Ned’s support has been crucial to our successful journey as a relatively new business over the past few years – alongside providing additional capacity; extensive skills and knowledge in areas such as marketing and communications, he also brings emotional intelligence and a shared set of values to the table – things which are equally important to us."
Mike Ormerod, Head of Central Services, BDSIP Ltd.
"I can’t recommend Ned highly enough and have thoroughly enjoyed working with him. He’s guided us through a complex marketing strategy and plan, providing sound advice and working diligently to ensure Groundwork secures the best possible outcome."
Garry Campbell, Head of Policy & Communications, Groundwork UK
Ned helped us to accurately shape our website brief, take it to market, and managed the process to successful conclusion. His ability to do this so effectively is underpinned by his style which is authoritative, highly collaborative, and outcome orientated.
Ben Spinks, Chief Executive Officer, BDSIP
"Ned provided us with the opportunity to think outside of our day jobs - bringing together people from across different businesses within our network.
He helped us to create a business strategy which really challenges us to consider how we're going to grow our programme, setting aspirational growth targets and how to get past the barriers preventing us currently.
I'd highly recommend working with Ned - he's been a positive force for change in our organisation."
Emily Thompson, Fuel Poverty & Climate Change Director, Groundwork in the North