What is going to excite your STAR customer?
YST workshop with All Start Marketing
All Star Marketing Club were on hand to give some of the South’s brightest young entrepreneurial minds a guide on how to ensure their business succeeds through great Marketing strategies and a strong Proposition.
The budding entrepreneurs were taught about the importance of identifying a clear five-point proposition for their business – product, experience, distribution, price and communication.
Rebecca Paterson, Marketing Director, told them that “You can have the best idea in the world, but it’s no use if it’s the world’s best kept secret. Do everything you can to let your potential customers know you exist.”
The Marketing Workshop was led by Rebecca Paterson and Victoria Vickery – directors of All Star Marketing Club and held at Fareham Innovation Centre. Entrepreneurial contestants from the Young Start-Up Talent initiative from the Solent and Chichester regions along with co-Founder Lorraine Nugent, Richard May of Oxford Innovation and Claire Peers of Verisona Law were also on hand to help out. The candidates took part in various activities to improve their marketing skills.
Harry Phelan, an entrepreneur and finalist for the Solent region who runs his own barbershop (Studio H), found particular importance in identifying his STAR customers and how he could target them in his advertising. A STAR customer is one that is most likely to use the business that the entrepreneurs are running that will yield the most results in a marketing campaign.
Victoria Vickery was also keen to stress the importance of modern marketing strategies adding that “It’s so much tougher than it’s ever been. You will have competitors, so you’ve got to find a way to stand out. So speak in the customer’s language and give them the solution to their needs.”
The workshop proved to be an invaluable experience for the young entrepreneurs as they prepare to enter the real business world.
Conrad Manning, of ZAPA, aims to help students learn about the world of marine engineering through various modules. He states that “The session really helped open my eyes to a completely different kettle of fish [marketing techniques].”
The entrepreneurs will now go away and prepare their final business plans before they enter the ‘Dragons Den’ in the Young Start-Up Talent finals. The event, for the Solent region, will be held on 8thSeptember at Oxford’s Innovation Centre in Ocean Village. The winner will be chosen and announced at a showcase event on 20th October at Novotel Hotel in Southampton.
For more information about the All Star Marketing Club http://allstarmarketingclub.com/ and http://youngstartuptalent.co.uk