The Step Change Blog

There’s a need for strategy because time, dollars, and focus are scarce and limited resources. A strong business strategy is the application of these resources for maximum leverage.

With reports around privacy issues, censorship, and loss of data on social media higher than ever before, alternative user-owned social networks are gaining popularity. But how does this impact brands and their social media strategy?

With over 90% of a prospect’s buying decisions influenced by their subconscious mind, many leading companies are targeting the subconscious in their marketing campaigns. But how does this work, and does it really make a difference? 

The rules of the marketing game most of us grew up playing have changed. Marketing in this day and age takes more than just the right message. It takes knowing where your customers are and showing up with an exceptional value.

In the race towards brand growth and relevance, leading FMCG businesses rely heavily on innovation. Those who rest on their laurels are finding themselves at the back of the pack. In this article, you will learn that with great innovation comes great marketing.

Value is in the eye of the beholder. In a world teeming with new product offerings, a critical question we need to ask today is: in a sea of undifferentiated offerings, how do we make our product or service stand out so people will buy from us?

To take the next step in transforming the customer experience and growing your business, having a clear visual of the customer journey is crucial.

Are you a challenger brand looking for the right marketing strategy that can help you stand out from market leaders in your industry?  We take a look at challenger brand marketing and how adopting a challenger mindset in your category can set you up to win. 

In the age of new retail, are your digital marketing strategies still relevant? The line between multiple devices and channels are blurring. To win customers, retail brands need to be able to follow and understand the customer journey throughout multiple touchpoints.

You can quite easily take all of that ‘big data’ collected on your ecommerce website and use it to fuel your email marketing campaigns. By implementing a number of simple triggers, you can create an automated sales-converting machine. Yes, we’re still talking about email.

Local area marketing is a big boost for local brands mainly because Google uses a searcher’s location to promote relevant local businesses.

Digital transformation has accelerated the game for healthcare. Patients now have more options and methods to monitor their health online or seek care. For healthcare brands, the clear path to success today is in establishing a solid online presence and effectively implementing mobile-first digital marketing strategies that get you front and centre to patients who are online.

In the financial services industry, converting leads to customers is vital. But with the speed of change in the marketing and technology space and in the wake of the Banking Royal Commission, marketing leaders in the finance industry are overwhelmed by the challenge of managing a genuine experience with their target customers, thus improving lead conversion.

Challenger brands don’t spend the money that market leaders do for promotion, R&D, or operations. So how do successful challengers outperform market leaders even with scarce resources?

How did Australia’s fastest-growing brands get to where they are? In this article, we look at some of today’s rising stars and the marketing strategy that helped drive them to the top.  

UPDATED: As of 25 August 2022

Should brands aim to be different or distinctive? What is the difference between the two, and how do these strategies add value to the branding equation? We take a closer look at shared evidence and form our own conclusions on why distinctiveness stumps differentiation.

Australian banks and financial institutions are losing the faith of the consumer. It isn’t a problem of regulation or profit alone. It’s a problem of public perception.

UPDATED as of 03 July 2020.

Whether it’s launching a new product line, executing a brand awareness or implementing your internal comms strategy, there is one thing we know that’s certain: collaboration and integration across multiple teams are keys to get the job done and get results. But this is not always easy.

UPDATED: As of 23 June 2022

Do you know how much your brand is worth? Although brand valuation can be difficult to measure, since a brand is an intangible asset, knowing its worth is useful not only for your business strategy but also in shaping your marketing strategy.

Personalised customer experience is no longer a rarity that’s saved for the top companies; instead, it’s the new digital imperative for businesses of all industries and sizes. B2B buyers now expect to experience a one-to-one experience at some point during their purchasing journey. However, delivering on this expectation is an entirely different challenge that has left many businesses struggling to connect.

Customer lifetime value is a critical factor in business success, but not all companies are tracking it. Many companies do not measure it, do not know what it is, or choose to completely ignore it.

Online stores are heightening the competitive space for brick-and-mortar retailers. What was once solely a problem for book stores is now becoming a problem even for giant big-box companies: people are buying all of their products online.

People, especially the younger generations, are finding less of a need to go to a physical store because they can shop from the comforts of their own home. This is a big problem for retail stores — or a great opportunity to deliver a superior customer experience.  

How do you describe “insurance” or  “healthcare” or “software” so your potential clients can grasp the value of something they can’t see?

We often hear of brilliant marketing examples from many top industry players, but it’s not every day we hear of this coming from the healthcare sector. In this article, we feature 10 examples of powerful marketing in healthcare.

It’s no longer just about market dominance. To position themselves right where their customers are, healthcare companies must keep pace with their audience’s needs, listen to market changes and trends, and adapt.

In an industry that puts a prime on innovation, we’ve seen more creative marketing approaches and ideas coming from the FinTech sector in recent years.

With the rise of the internet, B2B customers have more capacity to search for services and decide on the best deal online. Customers have the power over businesses now more than ever, and for businesses, this means they need to adapt or risk extinction.

In the age of short attention spans, brands are constantly competing to captivate their audience through creative and engaging ways possible.

There have been a number of significant changes over the recent years along with a new set of challenges that the aged care sector is facing — from deregulation, the Royal Commission, and shifts in customer preferences. As a result, aged care providers need to find new ways to stand out and gain the trust of their potential customers.   

Content is only as valuable as the audience it reaches. Marketing automation and SEO need to work together to boost your digital marketing efforts. By understanding how these two disciplines work together, you will be able to use them to gain a higher ROI.