SME club marketing plan pro.manchester

pro.manchester

SME Club Marketing Plan

Contents Page

1 About pro.manchester 2

2 The business development programme 3

3 SME club 4

4 The e-team 5

5 The ISM squad - integrating social media 6

6 pro.manchester grabbing the high ground 7

7 How many SMEs in the City Region? 8

8 What information do they need? 9

9 Notes on content 10

10 What is the target for SME club 11

11 How much will it cost 12

12 The value proposition 14

14 The Brand Values 15

15 Media Metrics 16

Page 1 pro.manchester SME Club Marketing Plan 2011

1 About pro.manchester
pro.manchester is the not for profit members organisation
representing the financial and professional services sector
in Manchester.

It represents the largest advisory group in the North West
with over three hundred member organisations and five
thousand active members.

Established in 1986 as the Manchester Financial and
Professional forum, pro.manchester has grown from in size
and scope and hosts over 130 events each year.

The organisation includes the blue chip list of major
companies in the sector.

Key events in the year include, the pro.manchester
Business Conference, a news style “show” hosted by Kirsty
Wark and Gavin Esler and the Annual Corporate finance
lunch with over 220 attendees.


2 The business development programme
The CORE (Corporate Outreach) programme is at the
heart of our business development agenda. The
pro.manchester.connects programme is geared to linking
the thinking of business and enterprise to advice and
ﬁnance.

We work closely with the Universities and Business
Schools in the city and with groups including our
Manchester Private Equity Group (MPEG), VC group and
Business Angels network. pro.manchester has recently
established CENBAR, the centre for business angels
research in association with Manchester’s three business
schools.

SME club is a big step in the business development
programme. The project will be launched in September
2011 in association with the MEN Business Week magazine
as the key media partner.


3 About SME club
SME club stage one is a free model providing free
information and advice to as wide a range of businesses as
possible, no matter what the stage or size. Members
signing up will receive ten tips on everything twice per
week and also a copy of the pro.manchester.connects
weekly update.

The objective is to maximise the size of the mailing list in
the ﬁrst three months. Gaining authority, providing
information that can be trusted to support businesses in
Manchester.

SME club stage 2 will be a paid subscription model planned
for February 2012. SME club ﬁrst class will give greater
access to workshops, masterclasses and events. The fee is
yet to be determined but would be no more that £20 per
month.

SME club stage 3 would be a SME club summit in June 2012
bringing together businesses and pro.manchester members
into an interactive forum.

SME club - gaining authority,
providing information that can be trusted.


4 About the e-team

The SME club advice programme is geared around the
three critical skills of the business leader or business team
- the product champion, the sales performer and the
ﬁnancial analyst. The three traditional components.

Since e-commerce and e-business is such an important
part of any business programme today, SME club will place
great emphasis on the “e-commerce expert” as an addition
to team advice.

pro.manchester has brought together over thirty of the
key businesses in this sector, specialising in web design, web
layout, SEO PPC, keywords, auto responders and e-mail
strategies and more.

This group is known as the e-team.



5 About the ISM squad - integrating social media

One of the biggest challenges to businesses of any size is
the integration of social media into an existing business
platform.

Businesses are faced with the challenge of the new ISM,
Integrating Social Media, ie Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook,
Google+, YouTube, Slide share and Flickr into an existing
business platform.

At the tip of the e-team vanguard is the ISM squad assisting
businesses in this critical area

The ISM squad is a group of specialists in this area, a key
component in the SME club marketing programme.



6 pro.manchester grabbing the high ground
For pro.manchester and the launch of SME club it is
important to grab the high ground of e-commerce and
social media developments working with the e-team.

To this end we launched in July 2011, the GM Tweetmap,
ranking the most proliﬁc and authorative users of Twitters
in the city. GM Tweetmap,

This will be followed by the pro.manchester Events board
in October listing and promoting all of the key events for
pro.manchester members and associates.

Finally, the Manchester Brain Mill. The Brain Mill an
interactive site where the e-team will work and play and
share cutting edge ideas in online business, systems and
technology.
Events Board

The Brain Mill,


7 How many SMEs in the city
For There are approximately 100,000 businesses in
Greater Manchester and perhaps 250,000 in the North
West. Of those almost two thirds have four or less
employees.

Much emphasis is made of the potential of high growth
gazelles generating the majority of job gains in the private
sector.

Part of our strategy, our 4G strategy is to create a Grazing
There are approximately 100,000
Ground for the Gazelles of Growth attracting more and
businesses in Greater Manchester and
more business into Manchester from across the North
perhaps 250,000 in the North West
West as potential clients of pro.manchester members.

But our overall strategy within SME club is to target all
businesses no matter what the size, sector, stage of growth
or growth ambition. The cost of acquisition is low as is the
cost of service.

We want to assist the business community, within the city
region, gaining authority, providing information that can be
trusted.

To become the one stop source of private sector business
advice.



Business Link Enquiries
8 What information do they need ? Most popular themes:
Using data from Business Link we can obtain an
understanding of the type of enquiry onto the Business Star%ng up
28%
Link North West web site. If we use the last full year that
Finance and Grants
the Business Link North West portal was in operation 15%
(Apr 2010 – Mar 2011), the following information is How we help
available: 10%
Total number of visitors – 136,000 Training Directory
Total number of page views – 600,000 7%
Employment and Skills
Average pages per visit 4.4 7%
Ave time on site in minutes 4.9 Taxes, returns and payroll
From this table the quantiﬁcation with an estimate for 6%
Manchester is derived as follows : Sales and Marke%ng
5%
Health, safety, premises
3%
Grow your business
3%
Your business sector
3%
Interna%onal Trade
3%
IT & E‐commerce
3%
Exploit your ideas
3%
Environment and Eﬃciency
2%
Buy or sell a business
2%


9 Notes on content
SME Club Tags
Business Link enquiries are heavily geared to start up and
early stage finance. Other organisations in the city are
Tips advice and guidance
better placed to deal with this and much is expected of the
new growth hub.
You get to choose
Content for the first six weeks will be centred on E- The information you need
commerce, e-business and the challenge of integrating Aimed at helping you
social media. The content will react to user experience and You get to choose the best advice
direction. The e-team are submitting content ideas, themes for your needs
and script. Ten tips around 350 words.

The e-mail lure for the landing pages will also be themed Private Sector, not business link,
on - what everyone should know about social media - final I am from the government and I am
theme to be determined. here to help you

Whilst we believe the four module content is on message, Free advice to business owners
product champion, sales performer, financial analyst and e- from business owners”
commerce expert. the offer will react to user preference Access to Expertise”
once we have achieved critical mass. Digital revolution is here, where RU?
We just want to help you grow,
The format for delivery will be, two e-mails per week Understanding the digital Space
offering top ten tips on a variety of subjects, this together Entrepreneurs
with a more general pro.manchester.connects mailing. Written by guys who are doing it
private sector to private sector
Tips and before and after stories will feature in the MEN
Business Week Magazine on the SME club page each week.
Most businesses haven’t got a
SME club - gaining authority, clue when it comes to Digital


10 What is the target for the mailing list?
The mailing list will be derived from a simple squeeze page
web site with an e-mail lure to seduce registration. Trafﬁc
to the site will be generated from :

Advertising
Adwords, SEO,
Advertorials MEN Business Week
E-mail strategies
Referrals and recommendations from pro.manchester
members, entrepreneurs and associates, including the GM
Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Small
business.
Substantial public relations campaign

Sample Mailing Lists
MEN Business Week Magazine 13,000
Business Desk Web Site Mailing 19,000
Insider North West Mailing List 29,000

A conventional conversion metric would suggest a
conversion rate of between 1% - 3% of any universe. Target
1,000 - 3,000 on the mailing list.

A more exotic metric where [c (f) m, v, i, f, a,] ie
conversion is a function of motivation, value of
proposition, incentive, site friction and authority, would
suggest a much higher conversion is probable. Our target
for SME club stage 1 has to be not less than 10,000 within
the ﬁrst three months of launch.


11 How much will it cost?

The costs of the operation will be covered by the
advertising and sponsorship del with RBS. The sponsorship
package has been front loaded to ensure exclusivity,
avoiding a syndicated solution amongst the pro.manchester
banking group.

The major cost is the digital marketing manager recruited into
the management team to manage the SME club project.

An additional charge represents the engagement of additional
pro.manchester team members e g ﬁnance, admin, creative.

Mailing costs are a direct cost of the operation which may be
subject to revision.

Advertising costs in MEN Business Week, Insider and Business
Desk are included at cost.

Web design and amendments will be met from existing budgets.


12 The value proposition
The brand value proposition is based on the following
calculations.

MEN full page SME club (AVE*) £50,000 per annum
MEN flash footer £10,000 per annum
Advertising (Insider, Business Desk) £10,000 per annum

SME club mailing programme 120,000 OTS per month
SME club web site 10,000 hits per month

pro.manchester Newsbyte mailing 25,000 OTS per month
pro.manchester Connects mailing 25,000 OTS per month
pro.manchester web site 5,000 hits per month

Social Media Profile
Twitter
LinkedIn
Facebook
Google +

Public Relations Profile PR Company
SME Club RMS / Juice Digital
The e-team MCMC
The ISM squad RMS / Juice Digital
National - Whitehall Weber Shandwick

*AVE : Advertising Value Equivalent


14 The Brand Values
1 SME club is the business development programme for “SME club - gaining authority,
pro.manchester members, creating opportunities to engage with new providing information that can be trusted”
clients and exploit cross selling opportunities amongst the variety of
professional services.
“Working together, sharing experiences,
2 In stage one, as a free advisory service, the objective of SME club is
developing the business of Greater
to gain authority and a reputation for providing information that can
Manchester”
be trusted.

3 pro.manchester brand identities - established, reputable, solid, safe, “Creating a partnership, in for the long
high integrity, vast resources, leading names, including blue chip haul, we want to see Manchester thrive”.
corporates and cutting edge e-commerce specialists.

4 Objectives
To become the one stop source for advice on bps. “Sharing the same problems and finding
To enhance the 4G strategy attracting more business into the city. solutions”
To develop and encourage cross selling activities for member firms
To develop brand loyalty and affinity programmes.
Providing confidence in the future with
5 Brand identities advice from those who have been there in
We face the challenges and want to share our experience. the past.
We face the same needs and concerns, together we can win through
We want to survive and grow our business and yours
Providing support when needed,
6 Major themes in the stages of growth
Business momentum, providing evidence of success
From trusted experts engaged in business themselves Using examples and real life
Sustainable programmes, in for the long haul no quick fix. case studies

Building the brand, developing the offer, attracting new business, maximising cross sell and creating the community.


15 Media Metrics
13,000 weekly
Business Desk Circula%on as follows for the North West:
 
Daily Email: 19,000 +
Weekly Email: 21,000+
 
Splash Page :  As per home page
Website Home Page : 250,000 page views per month
SME Channel : 6,000 page views page per month.
 
4 Week campaign to target the SME market, here are some ideas in order of 
eﬀec%veness (and cost):
 
1. Splash Page: This is the highest proﬁle product we have and generated 
phenomenal click through rates for Pannone during their re brand.  It appears 
once of every user when they login, greying out the en%re background so only 
the ad can be seen in the centre of the screen before the reader navigates to 
the site.
 
2. Home Page Banner : Same as you had for the conference but with more 
readers, as we are growing around 2000 per month.  Reaches the widest 
possible audience and is seen by every visitors to the site regardless of the 
market segment the editorial they have chosen to read has come from.  This will 
be seen 250,000 %mes in an average month and success can be measured 
through click through rates.
 
3.  SME Channel banner: This targets SME’s by tagging your brand to the top of 
every SME story, this is seen by every reader that reads an SME story – these 
are predominantly SME’s themselves .
 



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