In business, standing still is not acceptable. It doesn’t matter how successful your company is, how large its cash flow, and how far it is ahead of the competitors – to keep the leading position in the market, you should continuously raise the bar. The business and marketing expert Elvira Gavrilova knows what “equipment” is necessary for conquering the new highs. Having accumulated experience in different areas (as the Chief Editor of the business magazine Financoff, producer, PR expert), she is now focused on advertising and marketing.
“Your road map on the way of the company’s development is marketing, and your chief strategic areas are a brand, products, engaging customers, and sales. The parallel equal development of each comprises the formula of success”, shares her approach to the business development Elvira Gavrilova, a co-owner and the CEO EU of the advertising company Amillidius.
Elvira Gavrilova: brand’s success is its value for the consumer.
Elvira Gavrilova at the meeting with Prince Michael of Yugoslavia, the financier, public figure, and philanthropist (Principality of Monaco).
About the brand
What does the successful brand mean and how is its image created?
Elvira Gavrilova: In today’s highly competitive market, one cannot survive without being present on the Internet. A brand can be compared to an expensive suit – elegant outlook radiates the energy of success and credibility. While you will hardly do any business with those who smell and are wearing rags. Your brand needs a tailor to make this proverbial fine suit – to create a positive online image which will improve its recognition and customers’ loyalty. It is based on the brand platform. The platform includes everything – from the description of the target audience to its external features, from the brand’s mission and its values to the key messages which should be broadcast to the consumer.
It takes the SEO technologies of promotion to push the information about your company to Page 1 of the search results for the brand requests.
You should publish SEO-optimized articles about the brand and product in the top media, paying particular attention to the content and visuals.
Today, it is not enough for the brand to have a web-site; a YouTube channel is a must, too. Video is a leading marketing trend for the nearest decades and is one of the most impactful digital tools. By creating as much various video content as possible, you enhance your brand’s position.
At Amillidius, we keep reminding our customers that all their efforts could be wasted if the negative information about their brand emerges in the World Web. It cannot be ignored – even one negative review is harmful. It is necessary to monitor all Internet platforms and respond immediately to fair criticism, addressing the problem. And if someone has cast an imputation on your company on purpose, you should exploit all available methods of reputation management and eliminate the negative reviews from the Internet completely. By building a solid brand reputation and perfecting the system of its protection, you will be able to repel any informational assault.
Elvira Gavrilova and Jose Rui Meneses e Castro, MAP Engenharia’s founder and partner.
About the product
How to persuade a customer that this is your brand’s product that she needs?
E.G : People don’t buy a good or a service but rather the advantages they can get by having them – a status, security, comfort, and emotions. Your task is to offer them something that will make a difference. You have to study the mindset and behaviour of your customers and be widely aware of what they feel and want. However, it takes more than an idea and an excellent product. To succeed, that is to get the profit, you need a programme of how to introduce the product to the market and promote it. Number one in this strategic action plan is creating a passport of the product with the detailed description of its key properties: ingredients, shelf life, price, target audience, unique selling point, advantages and differences against competitors, sales scripts, as well as a list of possible negative responses which a potential consumer may have.
It is important to keep in mind that it is not the price that is ultimately important for the buyer but the value of the product. This is when marketing lapses with psychology. One of the operational methods I often recommend to my customers is a “social proof” The idea behind it is to let the audience know that other consumers – celebrities, experts, public figures – already have this product and are quite happy about it. This boosts sales dramatically.
And there is another important detail I’d like to point out. From the moment a new product enters the market, it goes through a certain life cycle – demand is growing together with the profits, then it peaks and slides down. To maintain the company’s profit, new products should be introduced into the market with carefully calculated timing – the moment when the previous product’s popularity is dropping down should coincide with the peak of the new product’s sales.
Elvira Gavrilova: on the right track toward the customer.
About engaging the customers
The Internet gives an almost infinite number of choices. Under these conditions, how to find and retain your customer?
E.G: Lead generation is an efficient marketing tactic, aimed to find customers and their contact details. To convert traffic into real buyers, you have to combine different approaches – contextual, banner, targeting advertising, partner programmes, and other methods. They differ in terms of principles of selecting the target audience and location of advertising. Contextual advertising emerges in the search results in response to the user’s request. Its advantage is targeting those who have already set themselves up to a purchase. Social media is a platform where targeted advertising is used successfully – it covers the target audience, selected on the basis of different social features: sex, age, education, hobbies. This makes it possible to eliminate uninterested users and show advertising to those interested. Besides these two types of ads, such tools as mailing out, messaging, presentations, exhibitions, and other events give excellent results, too. At Amillidius, we use all the tools of Internet promotion – complementing one another, they push the brand’s recognition, and massively increase the number of customers and volumes of sales within a short period of time.
Elvira Gavrilova at the Warsaw office of Amillidius (Poland)
About sales
Eventually, what matters most in business is sales. How to turn a prospective customer into actual?
E.G: Sales process is determined by many factors, the office and staff being most critical of them. The office is supposed to be presentable and well-equipped. And the company staff is always at the front. The impression made upon the customer comprises, among others, their dress-code, neatness, pleasant fragrance, and modern stylish gadgets in their hands.
The salespeople should be professional, with well-bred and well-projected speech, ability to grip and keep attention. The customer should get the answer to their questions within two seconds at most. It is significant to know the brand’s history, products’ passports, sales scripts, and be able to handle negative responses. The salesperson should be aware of the competitors’ products and be able to get across the excellence of all the products of their brand over those of the competitors’. To reach such a level, those working in sales should take consistent training, improve their professional, public speaking, and stress-resisting skills. Without persistent training, even the great Cristiano Ronaldo wouldn’t have scored so much. Proficiency enhancement of the sales department is an indispensable prerequisite of company development. Mistakes and miscalculation at this stage may downplay all previous success of the marketing experts.
Elvira Gavrilova with the British businessman Glyn Hutchinson, the Sales Director of Icon Connet (London)
What is the main message you’d like to send to the business people?
E.G: I described four essentials of the efficient marketing strategy. Each asks attention – it would be a mistake to focus on one, ignoring the other three. You need to develop all of them comprehensively – it is a cohesive structure which should be contributed into not only by the leadership but by every company’s employee either.
At Amillidius, we see our mission in helping you plan and accomplish in practice such a marketing strategy, as we can offer you an approach which will enable your business to steam ahead.
