Are you a lone voice in an in-house marketing team looking to create some space to get more niche and strategic?
Or are you a leader of a businesses and social enterprise who lacks a passion for marketing and social media?
The Academy for Business is for social enterprises, marketing teams of housing associations, and owners/board members/marketing managers of small to medium enterprises. It’s for YOU if you want to get more strategic and targeted with your marketing and social media, but are struggling to prioritise it away from the day job.
You must be sufficiently senior in your organisation to be able to directly affect the marketing strategy, and be committed to dedicating the required hours each week on action research.
Can you and/or your marketing team say with confidence, specifically…
>Who are the most critical stakeholders we need to be communicating with right now?
>Where are they (online and offline) and how to best reach them?
>How do they want to be communicated with? What platforms? What media? What content?
>What’s most important to them right now?
>And what kind of messages are most likely to chime with them in this new world?
If the answer to any of the above is, erm, ‘kind of’ or, ‘not sure’ or, most fatally of all: “But EVERYONE cares about what we do!”
Then you need the Academy in your life.
*Academy is now open for applications!*
How will the Academy help your organisation?
We’ll work together through my 3 step Academy process to improve the resilience of your organisation by creating a highly targeted brand, marketing and social media strategy after the pandemic shakedown.
The Academy will help you...
Take stock
…and reassess the effects of Covid and Brexit, and create a safe space for strategic marketing research and thinking, away from the noise and the din of the day job.
Be accountable
…use the accountability of working alongside five others, with weekly online Meet Ups to report on progress, share best practice and ‘considerately cheer each other on’.
Reduce social media overwhelm and knowledge obesity
…by following my simple three-step process to help you focus the right message, with the right content, in the right format, on the right platforms.
Stop wasting time, money and energy on scattergun marketing
…and learn how to get niche, by learning about my Academy ‘Why?’ and ‘Tribe Mapping’ process.
Challenge assumptions and stereotypes
…about your customers, beneficiaries, funders and stakeholders and learn how to use my ‘Tribe Mapping’ process to really get under the skin of your tribes. Use my tools to help you tackle sensitive issues (such as Black Lives Matter) with confidence and sensitivity.
Revisit your organisational purpose - your ‘Why?’
…and reignite the love for your organisation in the context of our fast-changing world.
Find your authentic voice
…for your marketing communications that is guaranteed to chime with your target tribes by hitting the sweet spot of your ‘Why?’ and your ‘Who?’
“The process gives you permission to be authentically YOU. ”
— NEIL WHITELAW, DANGEROUS DREAMER ACADEMY 2, NOW THEWOODENTHUSIAST.CO.UK
Grow your business
…in a highly targeted way, based on your values and those of your target tribes.
“Within 6 months we had doubled our sales volume.”
— KARL HALLAM, CLIENT AND OWNER OF INDEPENDENT AND ETHICAL OPTICIANS, EYEYE.
Grow a genuinely engaged audience
“The blog I set up in the Academy now has 2.7k visitors from 64 countries.”
— MIRANDA PLOWDEN, DANGEROUS DREAMER ACADEMY 1 AND DIRECTOR AT SOUTH YORKSHIRE HOUSING ASSOCIATION. www.mirandaplowden.com
Improve your resilience
…and be more efficient and effective with your commissioning of freelancers and agencies by having a clear ‘why’, a clear ‘who’ and a clear brief.
“I wish I’d have known this stuff years ago - really understanding your tribes saves so much time, money and stress when commissioning branding and marketing!”
— JUSTIN ROWNTREE, DANGEROUS DREAMER ACADEMY 2, OPERATIONS MANAGER AT BLEND SOCIAL ENTERPRISE AND FOUNDER OF SWEETSPOT COACHING.
The problem (pre Academy) - lack of focus
Problem 1. Vague and wooly ‘Why?’
Problem 2. Vague and wooly research into who your tribes really are (and could be), where the money is now, and what they really care about.
Who should you be targeting? On what social media platform? With what type of content?
The solution (post Academy) - get niche!
Align your ‘why’ with your ‘who’ and target the tribes who will actually care.
What’s the breakdown of the programme?
The Academy runs several times a year and the speed at which we go through it depends on who gets onto the programme and what everyone needs. My August Academy is an accelerate 4- week version, however, as a guide, it’s usually between 8 and 12 weeks, which comprise of the following:
1-2 hours independent online learning each week to guide you through the process and give you access to all the Academy tools.
2-6 hours weekly action research completing Academy assignments (all work is focussed 100% on creating your own marketing/social media strategy).
1 hour online weekly Meet Up to keep you motivated, report progress, and ‘considerately cheer each other on.’
You’ll also get a x 1 hour 1-2-1 consultation with me each month to help keep you on track.
There are usually only 5 places available in each Academy, so if it sounds like the Academy would be a good fit for you…
How much does it cost?
The costs vary slightly depending on the length and format of each Academy, but the standard cost of one person participating in the programme are:
£1,500 for established Small to Medium Enterprises.
£1,400 for existing social enterprises and housing associations who have secured funding.
£1,300 for social enterprises and housing associations who do not have any funding.
£1,250 for the Kickstart Academy (with additional option of recruitment support £450).
£1,200 for small independents.
£1,100 for start-ups.
Need help with costs?
Check out what funding is available for bounceback, recovery, and growth after Covid.
Give me a shout if I can help advise with any applications by giving more info about the Academy.
“There’s no question of being short-changed. The programme is not ‘off the shelf’ - it’s really bespoke to what you need. Plus you share the cost with five others, so it’s great value for money too!”
Why choose the Academy?
I have 26 years working in brand, marketing and copywriting for some of the most complex organisations in the world, from BP to M&S.
I’m also a social entrepreneur and ran my own social enterprise Silent Cities for several years, so have a deep understanding of the challenges social entrepreneurs face.
I’ve worked with South Yorkshire Housing Association for many years as a consultant and freelancer, including a two-year stint as Marketing Manager. I understand the pressures that internal marketing teams face and the difficulty of balancing proactive marketing strategy with the demands of servicing the day-to-day needs of the organisation.
I set up and ran several Start up and Accelerator incubators, including The University of Sheffield’s first Social Innovation programme and brand workshops for The School of Social Entrepreneurs.
I was the University of Sheffield’s first Social Entrepreneur in Residence.
I was the 2019 Winner of The Sheffield Star’s Award for Creativity for ‘outstanding contribution to creativity in Sheffield and beyond’; winner of the BP Lord John Brown award for Innovation; featured in the most prestigious design award annual D&AD for copywriting for John Smedley; winner of Campaign of the Year in the National Housing Awards for a campaign that helped secure 6 million to combat isolation and loneliness in Sheffield.
Why now?
The world has changed…but has your marketing and social media strategy?
Have you pivoted? Is your customer base the same as it was? Are your beneficiaries the same as they were?
Are their needs, pain points and joys the same?
Are your sources of funding and trading the same? Which sectors hold the money now/in the future?
THERE WILL ALWAYS BE MONEY IN THIS WORLD - IT’S JUST THE SECTORS WHO HAVE IT MAY BE DIFFERENT!
Have you got a brand and marketing strategy that reflects the new growth sectors?
The last 12 months has accelerated the adoption of online channels - both for our internal and external customers and beneficiaries. There’s no doubt, effective use of digital channels will be key to recovery. Does your brand and marketing strategy for 2021 reflect this?
Are you struggling to know quite how to respond to the key issues such as Black Lives Matter in your communications and operations in a way that is authentic and non-tokenistic? A central part of the Academy is carrying out detailed research into who your tribes are NOW and who they need to be, and what they really care about, so you can have a strategy that is actually fit for use.
Why several brains are better than one.
There are just five places on each Academy so you can work as a team to report into each other and genuinely support each other.
And of course, you also get me!
Here’s a few comments from Academy 1 about the benefits of working together.
The three most common marketing mistakes…
The most common reason my clients come to me is that they are struggling to FOCUS and are wasting their time, energy and hard-earned money on the wrong marketing activity with the wrong people. And if there’s one thing a South Yorkshire lass hates, it’s wasting money.
In my 26 years of working as a brand and content consultant for some of the most complex organisations in the world from BP to M&S, I’ve come across the same three mistakes time and time again.
MISTAKE 1. Being shy or failing to articulate your business ‘Why?’ and having a brand, materials and content that don’t accurately and authentically communicate your ‘Why’? and values.
MISTAKE 2. Being too vague and making too many assumptions about who your tribes are, what they actually care about, and how and where they want communicating with.
MISTAKE 3. Having a brand and marketing strategy that does not align your ‘Why?’ with your ‘Who’? and is founded on assumptions rather than actual data.
My Academy will help save social enterprises and independent businesses the pain and expense of making those three mistakes, so you can bounce back from the effects of Covid and Brexit (and future proof for other crises) in a more targeted and strategic way, and spend any recovery funding in the smartest way possible.
Specifically what will you learn and create?
The Academy leads you through my tried and tested process to help you produce a brand, marketing and social media strategy, which is based on just three main questions.
In the Academy you will:
#1. Find your ‘Why?’
Create a clear ‘Why?’ statement which will rekindle the love in your organisation’s higher purpose, including revisiting your organisation’s origin story, so that it is fresh and relevant in 2021.
Address any demons that are holding you/your organisation back from getting your message out there, and create ‘emergency medicine’ for dealing with them.
# 2. Find your ‘Who?’
Create a detailed tribe map of who your customers, beneficiaries, stakeholders, funders ACTUALLY are after the Covid/Brexit shakedown (and who they NEED to be).
Prioritise which tribes you want to ‘go niche’ with to focus your marketing strategy over the next 6 months/12 months.
Take away some tools to carry out in-depth research into your target tribes through interviews and online research using my Tribe Values Questionnaire, to find out what they really care about, where they really hang out, and how they really want to be communicated with.
#Plan your ‘How?’
Assess whether your current brand is ‘fit for use’ in 2021 using my Brand Audit Questionnaire.
Identify what actions you need to include in your brand marketing strategy to ensure your brand is fit for 2021.
Identify which platforms to focus your marketing and social media strategy on for 2021 and beyond.
Identify which media to focus on with your marketing and social media content based on the actual preferences of your priority tribes.
Create your ‘Content Manifesto’ - a simple checklist to empower anyone who is creating content for your organisation to post with confidence and in the organisational tone of voice.
Learn about ‘content pillars’ - what topics and themes to hang your content strategy on and a list of priority hashtags and keywords to help your target tribes find and share your content.
Create a highly-targeted marketing strategy and a list of tangible, priority actions.
What magic happens when you align your ‘Why?’ with your ‘Who?’
Neil has worked successfully in the corporate world for over 30 years. Five years ago, he started woodturning as a hobby.
He now wants to explore a life where he can turn his passion for all things wood into something that will move him one step closer towards the dream of a simpler life.
Here’s his description of the Academy approach and what great things can happen when you align your ‘Why?’ with your ‘Who?’
“I’ve just achieved my ANNUAL target turnover in just three months. ”
“I wish I’d have known this stuff years ago - really understanding your tribes saves so much time, money and stress when commissioning branding and marketing! Understanding my tribes has been life changing!”
“This is a great course to help you and your marketing get niche and Justine really helps you to understand your target market and how to reach them ☺️”
“Justine helped me structure my thinking and my planning. Her method helps you be precise and targeted and stops you from being scattergun. ”
“We weren’t just learning how to market ourselves, but we were also learning about our misperceptions…having tea with your demons, you get underneath the bonnet of how we THINK about this stuff which is just BRILLIANT.”
“Justine’s thinking is inspirational, and she brings it all to life with examples from her own practice and how to apply the tools. She really gets you thinking and gives you a quick ‘in’.”
“I realised that my ‘Why?’ wasn’t actually about deciding whether I was employed or self-employed - the Academy helped me realise I could achieve my ‘higher purpose’ in either setting. I’ve now taken my model to TikTok where it can help employees all over the world.”
“I now know who I need to target for Book Bench and how I reach them. The tribe mapping process is so rich with insight. It really helped me to think differently about my project as a concept, and will shape the whole way that it runs moving forward.”
Alistair Ponton - Academy 1, Director of Viewpoint CIC, Sheffield
Alistair is Managing Director of Viewpoint CIC a wonderful social enterprise based in Sheffield, Leeds and Doncaster. We’d already worked together on his ‘Why?’ and ‘Who?’ and had created a new brand and website, but he joined the Academy to create a strategy (and confidence/motivation) with his social media plan - that closely aligned his ‘Why?’ with his ‘Who?’. During the Academy we created a ‘quiet strategy’ and ‘content manifesto’ - a clear guide for the type of content that he felt (more) comfortable creating. Since the Academy, we have been working together 1-2-1 one day a month to keep his social media content moving.
“I now have a clear purpose, know who I need to target and how I reach them.”