For one reason or another marketing can sometimes be viewed by some as an area of business that has the reputation of being flowery and insignificant.
Also, when cashflow becomes tight, marketing activity always seems to be one of the first budgets to be cut. However, if your marketing is delivering a return on investment and helping your business to retain and win new business, is cutting the budget really the right decision?
If we had a pound for time we have been asked “How is marketing going to help us see a return on investment?” we would probably not have to keep buying a lottery ticket every week!
So, in answering the question “why marketing budgets are the first to get cut” and “why marketing has such a flowery perception”, we need to take a minute to analyse what marketing is and who is best qualified to give strategic advice and implement the agreed tactics.
First and foremost, marketing is a key activity that builds your brand reputation and supports your sales results……Yep it’s as important as that! Dont do any marketing and your business will wither from sight and fall behind your competitors – remember, not all marketing has to cost money. Word of mouth and speaking to customers and referrers is still a marketing tool!
Our biggest concern that all too often this vital business activity is carried out by people without a marketing or business-related qualification that do not have the skills to define strategy, identify and analyse key markets, and pick the right tactics to hit buyers when they are ready to buy.
Many times we have been left bewildered by MDs who cite poor results, yet when we ask about their marketing team we find out that they’ve left this vital management discipline to their PA who is great at generating creative ideas and implementation – but they’ve not really thought about who they are targeting with their campaign or what messaging will entice engagement. Could these fluffy ideas be one of the reasons why a poor return on investment is the end result?
It stands to reason therefore that here at Simple Marketing Consultancy we would only recommend that experts who are suitably qualified in marketing are chosen to give advice or take decisions over marketing strategy and promotional practice.
As the owner of a family or owner-managed business, we know it must be hard to choose the seemingly more expensive option of outsourcing to a professional when looking at some marketing consultant’s day rate.
So, in substantiating the rationale to use a qualified person, we thought we’d try to explain what you should get for your money and what the going rate is for a marketing consultant.
One thing you need to be absolutely clear of before you consider hiring outsourced help is what type of consultant do you need. Marketing has become very fragmented in an age where you have digital specialists, SEO specialists, PPC/Adwords, website specialists, CRM and client service specialists, digital strategy specialists, PR specialists, Social Media, email marketing and with YouTube becoming the second largest search engine, video is another important specialism.
Getting in people without the skills you need can be the difference between having a successful business or not having one at all. Or, the difference in perception between marketing being fluffy and delivering value!
We’ve all had first-hand experience of buying cheap – you’ll more than likely end up buying more than once.
Marketing is a long-term investment, so initially, it can be seen as quite a sum! Particularly if it’s not something you’ve considered before
But like all things in life, you have to invest to see sustainable results. We would question any marketing practitioner that promises to deliver overnight results, because let’s face it, the quick fix is never the answer.
Typically, when we have worked with family and owner-managed businesses in the past, their need for outsourced marketing is due to a need to generate and convert more leads or a need to increase customer loyalty by improving brand awareness.
In summary, when choosing your outsourced marketing consultant you should be looking for expertise that is relevant to your needs, evidence from satisfied clients of past results, and someone who understands your business, can refer work to you and most of all – someone you can get along and have fun with.
At Simple Marketing Consultancy, we can provide just that. Combined we have over 40 years of experience and have accumulated a vast knowledge of a broad range of marketing strategies and promotional tactics. We use this knowledge to recommend the best course of action for our clients and if there is an area where in-depth knowledge of a particular discipline expertise is required, we access our extensive network of qualified specialists to ensure your needs are fully met and your marketing delivers a big bang for its buck!
If you’d like to know more please get in touch.