- January 27, 2021
Laura Thomson: “Digital Marketing is fast, cost effective and easy to measure”
Reading Time: 5 minutesLaura Thomson is Founder and Director at Need Thinking. In conversation with Neolo, she told us how she started her own business just before the pandemic and the importance of Digital Marketing. Take a look at the article!
How did you found Need? Tell us about your daily work.
When I started the business, I didn’t have any clients. We began as a comms consultancy, so we mostly collaborated with designers. We got a shared studio space and started to make short to mid-term plans, but I wanted to keep things loose in that first year and assess where we were after 12 months. Three months in, the global pandemic hit!
Since then, we’ve added a lot to our offering. My partner has become my business partner, and our creative director. And we’re now a strategic design studio with an incredible team, one that I feel really lucky to get to work with. We were hired during the pandemic, so still haven’t met in real life, which is quite bizarre – but I guess part of ‘the new normal’.
As a strategist, I still do a lot of hands-on work. But as the team grows and we get busier, I find myself taking on more of that classic MD role. Every day is different. But over the next few months, I plan on focusing a lot more on the business rather than just the client work.
How is the step by step with Need’s clients?
We have a five step strategic process that begins with unpicking the brief. We really get to grips with a client’s goals, plus who their audience is and what they want. It’s in our name, really – we like to find out what the client needs, rather than just what they want.
What comes next is very much a collaboration with them. We don’t squirrel away to work on something and then do this big, dramatic reveal. Nothing’s a huge surprise to them, they’re brought along every step of the way and we always refer back to our initial findings to ensure we’re creating valuable work that’s right for both them and their audience.
Because we offer a range of services, the phases after goal setting and research are varied, but everything we deliver is results focused – so we end on reviewing performance.
How would you explain the benefits of digital marketing?
It’s fast, it’s cost effective, and it’s easy to measure.
Of course, there are also more nuanced benefits. If you do it right, it can make your audience feel closer to you – by highlighting your values, letting them in on your process, and showing your thinking.
And it’s great for the customer. With so much information and choice out there, it can be overwhelming. But it gives us the opportunity to decide who we want to work with, or whose products we want to use, and that knowledge lets us choose responsibly.
What would you say is the most important thing when starting a business?
Don’t do it three months before a global pandemic? In all seriousness, I don’t think there is one super important thing. I did it all wrong – no set business plan, no back-up plan, a solo-parent who’d just bought a new home, and all during an extremely turbulent year. I learned as I went, so I’m definitely not one to be giving advice on launching a business.
I think if you want something, you’ll go and get it. One thing that helped me take risks was knowing that the worst case scenario would be having to go back to getting a job. The world wouldn’t end. I was working hard to do a thing I’d always wanted to do, and I forced myself to trust that something would work out – whether the business took off or not.
How do you develop a marketing strategy?
This goes back to our five-step process. But the most important thing for us is getting to know our client – we can’t develop an effective marketing strategy otherwise.
Anyone can write a brief. Often it’s based on things the business has done before or what their competitors are doing – and that’s not always the best approach. So we really like to understand our clients, their long and short term goals, and their values, as well as their audience, competitors, and the market they exist in. That’s what we base our marketing strategies on.
We’re not reinventing anything here, simply aiming to provide value and not churn out unconsidered, unmeasured content.
How do you measure results? What tools do you use to do it?
It really depends on the project and client.
Google Analytics is ideal for most as it’s free and comprehensive, plus we can easily train teams to use it effectively.
Most social channels now show a range of stats that are enough to keep some clients right too. We aim to get their teams up and running without needing to shell out for various software and programmes, or to task us with writing regular reports – we want to make businesses self-sustainable.
Beyond Google Analytics, we don’t stray too far from classics like HubSpot and Magalytic – depending on the client’s needs and the project outputs.
What do you think are the advantages of having a website?
I’d like to caveat what I’m about to say with the fact we don’t have our website up yet! We’ve been going for just over a year, and we’ve only got a holding page – the full website is currently being worked on as and when. We’re really lucky to have gotten most of our business through word of mouth – and be busy enough to struggle to find time to do our own website – but not having one has its downfalls.
It takes just one referral to look you up and decide not to work with you, despite a recommendation, because they don’t feel like they know enough about you – or you don’t seem like a legitimate option versus your competitors. And then you lose out on a job. The obvious advantages of having a website are transparency and trust building, the ability to show who you are and the work you do in the way you want, and ultimately turning prospects into clients.
How would you describe the relation between digital marketing and website design?
There’s no point in spending months creating something if it doesn’t reach the right people, at the right time, in the right way. You could have the best website ever, but if your audience isn’t seeing it or doing what you need them to do, there’s no point in having spent money on it. A website alone is often just one piece of the puzzle in a broader digital marketing plan.
Do you think everyone can implement marketing strategies? Could you give some recommendations?
We focus on making brands self-sustainable, so believe that with the right tools, knowledge and support, it’s doable. But you need to make sure you have a solid basis and you’re working with facts, not on hunches. There’s a lot of dated information out there, so seeking out professional help to get you started is important.
We really like a motto that one of our clients lives by: If you can spend a little bit of money to make your life easier and get better results, do it.
I don’t think you should be getting your agency to do absolutely everything for you when there’s a lot you can do internally, but if it’s going to cause you grief, take time away from the things you need to be doing, and still not get done properly, it’s not worth it. So start right, ask questions, and weigh up the value in doing it internally vs hiring an agency.
What marketing tips could you give to an entrepreneur?
I’m not sure I’m in the position to offer tips to any entrepreneur! Contrary to what I just said about facts, starting a business – for me – is one for the gut. If it feels right, do it. If it doesn’t, don’t. This may be the worst advice ever. And maybe when you have IBS you absolutely should not trust your gut, but there you go. Perhaps my advice is: ask someone who gives better advice.
What are you waiting for to have your own website and domain?
