Give us a brief overview of your organisation
Footprints helps businesses set up or improve their marketing functions. We carry out audits of varying depths on the state and performance of businesses’ current marketing practices. This can be anything from looking at the marketing function as a whole, right down to a particular channel if a business wants to focus all marketing efforts on one specialised area. Each commission is bespoke to the client so we vary services accordingly.
All due diligence results in direct recommendations to empower clients to make informed decisions to improve efficiency, effectiveness and alignment to business objectives, whether that’s with personnel, processes or promotions.
Our services also extend to helping businesses present marketing plans in the most optimal way to ensure investment and assistance with employment, engagement and implementation.
What are the benefits of basing your business in the North East
It’s a really exciting region to be a part of. There always seems to be something new going on, which inspires a feeling of encouragement for innovation and development. People also want to help, giving a real sense of community up here that you don’t get in a lot of places and makes it an extremely supportive area for setting up and growing a business.
What have the past 2 years taught you?
Resilience for sure. The importance of learning and adapting quickly, staying positive, even if it doesn’t quite work out in the exact way you thought it would. There are always learnings from any experience and we can get too easily distracted and bogged down in the negative. Don’t let that put you off. If you’ve got an idea, an inkling or a full burning desire to do something, try it! Sometimes you’ve got to stick your head above the parapet to see where you’re aiming. Take the risk – see what happens!
A lot of businesses fail in their first 2 years, so the fact that we’re still here and still thriving is a huge testament to the services we offer and the value we bring to clients. Take the chance!
What are your business objectives for the next 12 months?
To build on what we’ve been doing for the last 2 years. We haven’t been able to do a lot of business development because of the lockdowns and when you’re offering a service that is fairly new to the region, it can make it difficult to get people to understand that offering when they’re so used to receiving something else when it’s labelled “marketing”.
We want to become the go to marketing operations consultancy in the region and that doesn’t happen overnight, so we look at making changes as and when the opportunities present themselves, then jump from that springboard to another.
What are your hopes for the future of the North East’s tech and digital industry?
I hope it continues to attract outside interest – both in terms of investment and talent.
I’d love to see more people choosing the North East as their base and being excited about the opportunities here – not just for living but also business opportunities. It would be great to see the region competing consistently on a level playing field with the rest of the country from a financial perspective. Having seen the benefits of strong investment and paying for the right people, I’ve noticed huge development and growth in companies I have worked with. If we, as a region, can continue that upward trend, there’s no reason why we can’t attract interest from all over the world.
Why did you join Dynamo?
It’s an important part of the tech community. Bringing businesses and people together, sharing knowledge and representing the region across the country. We definitely punch above our weight here and it’s because of institutions like Dynamo that we can do that. It might have a reputation amongst some that it doesn’t bring ROI in terms of business contracts but the value it brings for connections, learning and feel-good events is fairly unmatched! It’s something you want to be a part of when you’re up here, which is a pretty good brand to have created. Personally, I think the Dynamo community is what you make it and the opportunities, in my opinion, are endless!
