It's Maori Language Week!

This year is all about showing New Zealand that there is a place for the Māori language in all areas of life, from our sports fields and stadiums, to the news and the ever-growing realm of social media. This annual campaign is about raising awareness that New Zealand has its very own language and encouraging the use of it, with simple phrases every day, week and month of the year.

To celebrate, we thought we would share a few phrases you can use in your everyday business interactions

You’re doing well, your marketing is working and you’ve got a potential customer who is interested in what you do... what’s next? To be seriously considered you have to build trust and prove that you can do what you say you can do.

What is the best, easiest and cost effective way to do this? Testimonials!

This simple and FREE marketing tool is often overlooked, but can help to seal the deal when a customer is making a purchase decision.

You’ve got my attention – but can you hold it?

Captivate your customers in three simple steps.

Think for a moment about your ideal customer. How do they look for your product or service? Are they searching online, are they talking to friends, are they walking down the street?

Once they have found you, how do you hold their attention and get them interested enough to find out more?

It is not enough to talk about what your business does or the promotion you have at the moment. You need to be more inspiring than that. You need to be relevant, interesting and credible to be ultimately considered.

Marketing is critical for every business because if the customer doesn't purchase your goods or services, nothing else matters! Marketing is not just advertising, it’s not just selling and it’s not persuading people to buy things they don’t need.

Marketing is the whole process of taking your goods and services to market and getting them into the hands of your ideal customers. That means marketing is about winning the hearts and minds of your customers and ideal clients. Reaching the right people with the right message in the right place at the right time!

It all sounds pretty simple but business owners often complain that their marketing fails to deliver the results they want.

For marketing to be successful so your business thrives, it must have the right why, who, what, how and do. A brief explanation of each component follows:

Last month we learnt that the secret to marketing plans that work is the science of what makes your customers buy.

Successful marketing meets your customer at every step of the buying process so that you retain as many prospects as possible, capture your customers and generate sales. The best marketing plans create strategies to make sure customers notice you, like you, trust you, try you, buy you and then love you.

The first essential step to creating a marketing plan that works is to get customers to notice you and become familiar with your brand.