Tom Gozney

I’m gonna be a little blunt today. If you’re an FMCG or retail business still taking the same marketing, packaging, and design directions people used back in 2018: I’m sorry, but your business will only survive, not thrive. And honestly, in today’s cutthroat competition, even survival is tough. We live in a time where there’s rarely any true innovation left. There’s rarely any space for “revolutionary” products anymore. Whatever business idea you have, it probably already exists. Maybe as a startup, or run quietly by someone you’ve never heard of. - Beverages? Dozens of brands. - Incense made from waste? The Tirupati Balaji Temple Trust has been making incense from temple flowers since 1998. - Makhana with desi flavours? That’s not innovation, that’s a homely recipe every Indian household already experiments with. Almost every consumable product already exists in some form or another. So then, how do you make your product stand out? How do you create a legacy brand? Well, there’s no single formula, but these definitely help: 1. Trust : Sure, local makhanas or incense are available everywhere. But can a local vendor guarantee safety and consistency? As a brand, those are your biggest loyalty drivers. 2. Story : Beyond your mission statement, do you have a story that’s human and relatable? People buy into curiosity and connection. 3. Design Thinking & Strategy : Not just your logo. Your packaging, communication, social media tone, and ads all count. Gone are the days of templated creatives, people crave strategy, originality, and emotion. 4. Social Media : Eight years ago, I’d have laughed at the idea of serious business coming from Instagram. Today? Most sales start there. Everyone’s online, and that’s where your brand needs to live. 5. Packaging : Can we please move away from generic packaging? Look at Japan, the UK, Indonesia, even Sri Lanka. Their products are functional, sustainable, aesthetic, and thoughtfully designed. And that’s not the end of the list. There’s so much more. Moral of the story: Just packaging a product and chasing numbers won’t give you longevity. You need to focus on how you make it stand out. Because today, it’s not "what you sell". It’s "how you sell it" that really matters.

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We’re getting good traffic… but we’re not seeing the leads.... A Head of Marketing in manufacturing said that to me last week. Their SEO reports looked great. Bounce rate down. Page views up. Session time solid. But leadership? Still not convinced. Still questioning the budget. Still seeing marketing as a cost centre. And this is the problem. If your reporting sounds like: “We increased engagement” “CTR is up 12%” “The blog performed well” But not: “We generated 6 qualified leads last month” “Two are in proposal stage worth £75k” “Here’s what we did to drive them” Then you’re not showing impact. You’re just describing activity. And activity doesn’t win investment. Pipeline does! Data shows marketers waste around 37% of their budget on activity that doesn’t drive revenue! That’s the bit your FD hears loud and clear 😬 So if you’re in a traditional sector and marketing still feels slightly detached from sales… It’s time to close the loop. Build your reports like a salesperson. Talk like someone who owns the number. Otherwise, you’ll always be justifying spend. Not growing it. If this hits close to home, feel free to drop me a message. Always happy to compare notes or talk through what might move the dial. #MarketingThatSells #RevenueMarketing #B2BMarketing

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One of the most useful lessons I’ve learnt in performance creative? You don’t need to be right on the first try. You just need a system that gets smarter every time you test. I’ve seen again and again that strong creative isn’t born from guesswork, it’s built from structured iteration. Here’s the framework we use to turn creative into a lever for scale: Phase 1: Isolate and test We launch controlled variations, testing one element at a time (hook, format, visual cue). The goal is to learn, not scale. Phase 2: Identify performance signals We don’t stop at CTR or CPC. We dig into hold rates, thumbstop %, conversion efficiency — whatever ties directly to the real outcome: purchases. Phase 3: Scale what works Top performers are refined and rolled out more widely, often adapted across channels. Nothing scales unless it proves itself first. Phase 4: Feed the loop Insights become briefs. Patterns become templates. Winners inform the next batch turning testing into strategy, not just trial and error. The result? Better performance. Less waste. Creative that doesn’t just look good, but works hard for the brand. Most brands say they need “more” creative. What they actually need is a better process. Because the real edge isn’t in making ads… It’s in making them smarter every time.

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12 things I see in every CEO who work LinkedIn like a boss!! Want followers to turn into revenue? Start here 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼 • You share the stories others won’t. • You argue for your buyers, not against competitors. • Your voice is recognisable in any comment thread. • You turn failures into lessons. • You reply to meaningful comments like they matter. • You hold strong opinions on 2-3 specific topics. • You celebrate other CEOs’ wins, even competitors’. • You share real numbers when it serves the lesson. • You show behind-the-scenes decisions, not just outcomes. • You call out industry BS everyone thinks but won’t say. • You coin signature phrases people quote back to you. • Your content makes people think, “I wish I’d said that.” • You don’t treat LinkedIn like social media. • You treat it like the boardroom of the internet. That’s why some CEOs leverage LinkedIn to scale their business… And achieve their objectives. While others collect vanity metrics and wonder why nothing converts. And then say something like... "LinkedIn is saturated" Or... "LinkedIn doesn't work for my business" The difference isn’t follower count. It’s TRUST count! ---------- I’m Stefan. I help business owners, founders and CEOs turn LinkedIn into a high-trust client engine with authority content, smart outreach, and zero-cringe lead generation. Want to see exactly how this works? Grab my free email course:: https://lnkd.in/eyNAnixC

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The biggest marketing lie ever told: Organic marketing is free It's not free It never has been. It never will be. You’re not “saving money” by skipping paid advertising if you're pouring time into organic content. You're just spending it differently. Because here's the truth: - Writing great content takes time - Ranking on Google takes patience - Building an audience takes strategy - Staying consistent takes serious effort - Creating posts that actually convert takes skill Organic marketing might not have an invoice attached. But it absolutely has a cost. It costs: - Your time - Your team’s time - Your tools and tech - Your strategic input - Your creative resources So the next time someone says “we’ll just go organic”... Make sure they understand what that really means. Organic can be powerful. But only if you treat it like the investment it truly is. What’s been your biggest lesson with organic marketing? Repost ♻ to educate your network. And follow Tom Pestridge for more posts like this.

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Already at £2m with 10 days left. The exciting hospitality brand Six by Nico’s crowdfund is a masterclass in turning community into capital through: 1️⃣ Social media 2️⃣ Email lists 3️⃣ FOMO FYI that’s not just a mailing list That’s the goodwill ATM in full battle formation! The thing is, most businesses are still stuck in pre-social media fundraising modalities. They blithely sit on untapped goldmines - their own customers and well wishers - yet since that audience isn't 'engaged,' the “invest now” button is dead on arrival. As for fundraising? Why it's ye olde bank loans, angel investors, or a “once we’re big enough” conversations as well as fun runs and bake sales. It's not like Six By Nico are the only ones to do crowdfunding successfully either. 1️⃣ BrewDog (brewing) raised over £100m across multiple rounds 2️⃣ Monzo Bank (fintech) raised £20m in 96 seconds 3️⃣ Oculus Rift (gaming) raised $2.4m with 9,500+ backers 4️⃣ Exploding Kittens (card game) raised $8.8m in 2015 with 219,000+ backers  5️⃣ The Coaching Academy (professional services) crowdfunded £1.2m in 30 days The common thread across all of them: ↳ They didn’t “launch” and then try to find investors. ↳ They built a movement first - audience, identity, belonging - then monetised that emotional capital at speed. Since crowdfunding is intrinsically intertwined with social media and digital marketing, I've lead or been on the marketing team or board of a number of successful projects across industries: - A £100k new business launch - £25k book release - Several charity drives from £20k - £250k - £750k raised for a homeless charity during Covid The common denominator? A clear story. A loyal following. And a frictionless way to say “I’m in.” If you want to crowdfund for growth: 🏛️ Build your tribe before you need the money. 🏛️ Show them how their investment transforms them from customer to co-creator. 🏛️ Make the benefits as tangible as the returns. Question for you: - Would you invest in your favourite restaurant? Why or why not? - What’s the most compelling crowdfunding campaign you’ve seen? - If your business had to raise £500k in 5 days, who would you turn to first? With thanks to Daily Business, Terry Murden and Crowdcube ----- ♻️ Share this with someone who's keen to turn followers into backers, and backers into evangelists. + Follow Fin Wycherley💡for more tips and insights on the intersection of AI, social media and crowdfunding

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Your brand colours might be sending the wrong message. Red doesn’t always mean power. Blue doesn’t always mean trust. Here’s what most people get wrong about colour theory. 👇 🎨 Colour isn't just visual, it's psychological. If you choose colours without understanding their meanings, you're not designing, you're guessing. Here’s what each colour really says about you: 🔴 Red → Intense. Passionate. But also aggressive and overwhelming. 🔵 Blue → Trustworthy. Calm. But can also feel cold or corporate. 🟢 Green → Growth. Freshness. But might imply inexperience if overused. 🟡 Yellow → Joyful. Energetic. But too much = anxious and hard to read. 🟠 Orange → Warmth. Creativity. Can look cheap if not used well. 🟣 Purple → Luxury. Wisdom. But can feel out of touch if misused. 🖤 Black / Greyscale → Bold. Modern. But lifeless if used with no contrast. If your colour choices clash with your brand message, people won’t trust what you're selling, even if your product is great. Pick your colours with purpose, not preference. Image credit to : Mahtub Noedoost on Pinterest ------ Design is everywhere, Great design starts here. Follow Design Daily for ideas that never take a day off.

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A few weeks ago, someone asked me, “Are your products drop shipped?” 🧐 We’re a hair care brand, so I think the term they meant was white labelled, as opposed to drop shipped. In short, no, we do not take existing formulas off the shelf & stick our label on them ❌ Here’s how I *actually* bring a product to market ⬇️ 💛 It always starts with an idea - sometimes a key ingredient, sometimes a function 🍒 💛 We then move into the research stage - working with 2 cosmetic chemists to curate the ‘ideal’ formula 🧪 💛 It’s then time for sampling 🥼 💛 Once samples are approved, we move to the testing phase 📝 Months (if not 1 year+) goes into product development & as a small, independent brand, we ought to shout about our processes more!

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