Shetland Marketing

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General Marketing Resources

There is a huge range of marketing-related material available online. In this section, we highlight just some of the resources that may be of particular relevance to Shetland-based businesses.

Shetland Islands Council - Marketing Plan Template

A marketing plan is a very useful written document which can be completed as part of an overall business plan. A marketing plan should detail the necessary actions required to achieve your marketing objectives and can be completed for a product or service business, usually covering anything from a 1 to 5 year timescale. The plan will tend to concentrate on list of actions to be carried out over a given time scale, however withought a sound strategic foundation it will be of little use. Our simple marketing plan template [.pdf 526Kb] is designed to take you through this process and will help to provide a planned, solid footing for your future marketing efforts.

Business Gateway

Business Gateway is a Scottish Government initiative which aims to provide practical help, advice and support for new and growing businesses in Scotland. The initiative in Shetland is managed by Shetland Islands Council Economic Development Unit. Through the Council, access can be provided to specialist advice and assistance via a business counselling service. The Business Gateway Website has a wide range of practical advice on marketing.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is the Scottish Government’s economic and community development agency for a diverse region which covers more than half of Scotland. HIE aims to build sustainable economic growth in all parts of the Highlands and Islands. HIE provides an excellent range of useful briefing notes on general marketing and marketing methods:

• Marketing research - Marketing research helps you understand your competitive position, spot opportunities, lessen risks and take better decisions. It is more than just market research, which is concerned only with examining aspects of a given market, such as its size, location or growth potential.
  http://www.hie.co.uk/HIE-Director-Briefings/MA12RESE.pdf [.pdf 170Kb]
   
• Planning your marketing - Marketing is based on identifying and satisfying customers' needs - profitably. It encompasses market research, pricing, promotion, distribution, selling, customer care, and much more.
  http://www.hie.co.uk/HIE-Director-Briefings/MA5PLAN.pdf [.pdf 180Kb]
   
• Setting price - Setting your prices too high can reduce sales abruptly, while undercharging can devastate your profits. The logic is simple. Your optimum price is one that gives the largest total when you multiply your margin by the number of sales you can achieve.
  http://www.hie.co.uk/HIE-Director-Briefings/MA8PRICE.pdf [.pdf 180Kb]
   
• Building customer loyalty - A loyal customer tends to buy more, more regularly. And throughout the period, a loyal customer will regularly recommend your business to others.
  http://www.hie.co.uk/HIE-Director-Briefings/MA4CUST.pdf [.pdf 178Kb]
   
• Marketing with your database - Databases make information management easy and relatively inexpensive. Mail shots, telemarketing and customer service activities can be more purposeful when you have instant access to details of all your customers and prospects and all your contacts with them.
  http://www.hie.co.uk/HIE-Director-Briefings/MA6DATA.pdf [.pdf 184Kb]
   
• Design - Design is not just about the way products and brochures look. It is an essential part of improving your business, developing new products and innovating. Effective use of design can increase sales, reduce costs and present a new image to your customers.
  http://www.hie.co.uk/HIE-Director-Briefings/MA1DESIG.pdf [.pdf 182Kb]
   
• Creating a brand - Having a brand can differentiate your business from your competitors and drive customer loyalty. And branding isn’t just for multi-nationals with huge budgets: small and medium firms can create an effective brand by examining how the business works, what it means to its customers and acting on the results.
  http://www.hie.co.uk/HIE-Director-Briefings/MA13BRAN.pdf [.pdf 169Kb]  
   
• Advertising strategy - Almost every business needs to promote itself in some way, reaching out to customers and potential customers.
  http://www.hie.co.uk/HIE-Director-Briefings/MA9ADVER.pdf [.pdf 184Kb]
   
• Writing and advertisement - A well written advertisement can dramatically improve the effectiveness of your advertising campaign. While writing a great advertisement is an art, the key principles are easy to understand - helping you either to prepare your own advertisement or evaluate the work of an agency or copywriter working for you.
  http://www.hie.co.uk/HIE-Director-Briefings/MA10WRIT.pdf [.pdf 180Kb]
   
• Direct mail - Direct mail can be an extremely cost-effective marketing method. You can use it to get details of your company and its products directly into the hands of the people who are most likely to want them. But direct mail works best with proper preparation beforehand.
  http://www.hie.co.uk/HIE-Director-Briefings/MA3DIR.pdf [.pdf 174Kb]
   
• Writing a mail shot - Most businesses send out mail shots several times a year, whether they are large-scale mailings or batches of individualised letters to a dozen key customers at a time. If the targeting and the offer are right, you get a positive response. If you get them wrong, it is junk mail.
   
• Effective PR - A good image is a valuable asset. Effective public relations (PR) creates good publicity, building your reputation with customers and others whose opinion matters to you. While advertising can be purchased immediately, generating positive publicity can take time. On the other hand, good PR has greater credibility and can have more impact than advertising.
  http://www.hie.co.uk/HIE-Director-Briefings/MA11EFPR.pdf [.pdf 179Kb]
   
• Attending Exhibitions - Exhibitions provide a unique opportunity to display your product and business to large numbers of potential customers. A clear idea of what you are trying to achieve and how to go about it helps you to maximise the impact.
  http://www.hie.co.uk/HIE-Director-Briefings/MA2EXHIB.pdf [.pdf 187Kb]

Chartered Institute of Marketing

Through the CIM 'Knowledge Hub' you can access full text business journals and abstracts or references, case studies and market reports. Some of this information is free; some must be paid for.

Suggest Your Own Resources

Please feel free to suggest other marketing resources that would be suitable to promote here. Contact us with your ideas. 

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