July 2014

Get noticed -Aesthetic Marketing

Build a website – it’s your shop window and essential for people finding you online. Ensure you include keywords to ensure you rank well and can be easily found online.

Create online social profiles – create a business Facebook page initially then progress to Twitter and Google+. Incentivise potential customers to interact and share and keep content relevant and regular.

Listings – make sure your business and contact details are listed on all the top directories, including Google, Yahoo, Bing, Yellow Pages etc.

Joint ventures – establish links with other businesses and offer reciprocal offers, e.g. hairdressers. This will enable you to share customer data and arrange joint events.

Get business

Make your offer appealing – tell people what you want them to do. This could be an offer or just how to contact you and why to choose you over other businesses.

Promote your business – consider paid-for advertising in local printed publications or trying online search terms. It’s best to use a specific offer to track success.

Referrals – make customers happy and they will talk to others, so incentivise referrals with special offers.

Keep business

Email campaigns – send your current customers regular updates and offers, no more than once a fortnight, and ask them to forward to friends and family.

Social media – encourage reviews and sharing to build reach, use photos and testimonials to reflect the quality of service you are offering.

Blogging – add a blog to your website if you have one or start one on Google blogger. This will help with finding you online and also give customers a personal buy-in to you.

Who knew a takeover bid in the pharma industry would be so thrilling? The battle between Allergan Vs Valeant is shaping up like an epic tennis match, with shot after shot screaming back over the net.

The last was from Valeant, who announced they were seeking to bypass Allergan’s board of Directors and take their hostile bid directly to shareholders.

But now Botox maker Allergan have hit a blistering return. To head off the $53 billion hostile takeover bid, the board are preparing a slew of measures – including taking on debt to buy back their own shares.

Also on the table is a plan to make acquisitions of its own (anything Valeant can do…), as well as a round of spending cuts to increase shareholder value, according to Chief Executive David Pyott.

The hope is that these measures will be enough to persuade shareholders that Allergan is better off going it alone.

It’s thought that Allergan will officially reveal their masterplan when they release their second-quarter results later this month. But even then it seems the battle won’t be over.

Valeant have hit back, saying they already have enough shareholders on side to call a meeting to try and replace Allergan board members with nominees who support their takeover bid. They need the support of shareholders who hold at least 25% of the company’s shares.

Financial Analyst Ronny Gal says that while it’s possible for Allergan to swing things in their favour, they will find it challenging.

“When I run my numbers, a buyback alone doesn’t quite cut it. A buyback plus another round of cost cuts, or the acceleration of the discussed cost savings, does.”

An acquisition could help them, according to Gal, but only if it increases their profits – and quickly. To win round short-term investors, he says, Allergan needs to deliver another $10 per share in 2015 or $11 per share in 2016.

Get comfortable. Allergan Vs Valeant is going to run and run…