by admin | Jun 11, 2013 | Blog
When To Get a Marketing Consultant or hire a Marketing Professional So You Can Focus On Your Business
With an uncertain future, are you left wondering whether your business is confidently operating with skilled marketing consultants or professional/s in the right roles working for or inside your business?
“Nobody can really guarantee the future. The best we can do is size up the chances, calculate the risks involved, estimate our ability to deal with them and then make our plans with confidence”[1]
Previously we discussed the reasons why you may wish to recruit a marketing professional as opposed to or as well as contracting; there may be a need to do so particularly for roles related to consolidating intellectual property within product development and also for efficiency within distribution and technical roles. Beyond this lies the more creative and strategic realm most suited to advertising and marketing consultants.
“The future belongs to the competent. It belongs to those who are very, very good at what they do. It does not belong to the well-meaning.”[2]
With the help of external consultants, you can pick and choose from a pool of highly skilled marketing professionals to meet the specific needs of your business.
Product and services branding, for example, stems from your existing branding strategy and forms part of your product development processes, this function traditionally falls within the ambit of an internal Marketing Strategist or Product and Brand Manager capturing your brand identity, values and personality. However many small business simply don’t have these specialists in house due to lack of resources, hence making an external marketing consultant the most cost effective answer.
Captivate Your Audience
Brand communication, however, is a reflection of branding strategy and an external brand communication specialist who works closely with you foresees every vantage point where consumers encounter your brand and ensures every brand touchpoint builds your brand by being a memorable, positive experience. Using an external source for this task greatly increases the likelihood that this individual has worked across more and/or diverse branding portfolios and provides incomparable insight on customer perception.
Considering you already have a good understanding of your target market it would be useful to ‘hire a marketing contractor’ for promotion. A skilled marketing consultant or advertising professional will be able to captivate your audience with the correct mix of messaging and media and convince them to take action through a well-planned communication campaign, clearly differentiating your brand.
Consumers overdose daily on information relating to products and services through a myriad of marketing channels – television ads, blogs, websites and e-mail mailing lists, to name a few! These are all locations where clarity and consistency of your marketing content is critical.
Since media is increasingly fragmented, communications programs are more complicated and it is impossible to be an expert media strategist, social media expert; copywriter and so on! Using an external source such as a marketing consultant to assist with the production of these marketing materials you can select an expert in every field, with years of experience or simply hire a marketing agency with all of the required services under one roof.
If you’re still unsure about what to recruit for in-house and what to outsource, we are as willing as we are skilled in helping you to determine your best course of action.
by admin | May 24, 2013 | Blog
Small to medium enterprises today are faced with the quandary of meeting the strategic and practical challenges of marketing their business.
This raises questions like – how do we meet our marketing requirements in the most cost effective manner with the most optimal outcome?
Do we really need to recruit a marketing professional, or can we meet these challenging demands by outsourcing to a marketing consultant or marketing agency?
The solution to these issues lies in knowing what roles you need filled, and then being smart about allocating them, i.e. do what you do best, and outsource the rest!
Today’s’ competitive marketing environment requires specialist knowledge for each marketing function, thus gone are the days of trying to fill these diverse tasks with a one size fits all marketing job description, and expecting a superhuman applicant to be able to do it all, although you may get many applicants claiming just that -the topic of how to recruit a real marketing professional and not get stuck with a ‘wannabe’ will be covered in the next few blogs.
The solution to these issues lies in knowing what roles you need filled, and then being smart about allocating them, i.e. do what you do best, and outsource the rest!
Every day, businesses and recruiters are searching for Marketing Managers, Marketing Strategists, Marketing Co-Ordinators. Like Shakespeare, you may be wondering, does ‘a rose by any other name smell as sweet?’ Or are there notable differences in the functionality of these marketing roles.
In reality, semantics are par for the course, both on the recruiter’s side and the job seekers side – what we are interested in, is adding value where it counts.
We know that when it comes to marketing recruitment it’s not simply about the position description, rather it is the experience, passion and creativity of the people selected to work for or beside you that make the difference for your business to stand out.
Recruitment of a marketing professional as part of your business might well be necessary if your internal marketing function does not have adequate support in areas like product (or service) development.
From concept development to market testing, are you confident that your product development process is comprehensive? What about pricing strategy, is your pricing reflective of the differing value segments in the market and how does the pricing of this component impact the rest of your portfolio? You will also need in-house management of distribution, someone who excels in familiarizing himself or herself with your target market and maximizes the opportunity of them accessing your product or service through a unique and convenient distribution channel.
Certain marketing functions such as media buying, web and social maintenance and updates, are well suited to be performed within your organization as are administrative and project management tasks. These functions lend themselves more easily to training, than the other more technical or creative marketing functions.
Outsourcing has many benefits, the most powerful being the agency’s capacity to demonstrate a new perspective about a product or service that those inside the company do not have.
Many of the remaining marketing activities that were once trying to be captured in an overzealous Marketing Manager or Marketing Strategist role description can actually be completed by a talented marketing consultancy or an advertising agency.
By choosing this option you will have access to a diverse range of individuals who are experts across all areas of marketing communication, ranging from integrated strategy to brand development, design and copy-writing and search engine marketing. Outsourcing has many benefits, the most powerful being the agency’s capacity to demonstrate a new perspective about a product or service that those inside the company do not have.
by admin | May 20, 2013 | Blog
Maybe I have been experiencing self-delusion all these years but during this rainy weekend whilst catching up on all the TV programs I have missed, my bubble of idealism was painfully punctured, not just in relation to myself as a marketing consultant or in relation to consultants in other business disciplines but to people and consumers in general.
The sad truth was probably always there in the recesses of my mind, but my wishful self just kept suppressing the truth in the same way that we all suppress information that is likely to clash with our firm held beliefs or wishful thinking.
In 6 out of the 7 episodes (I couldn’t bear watch any more) in Season 1, of “The Pitch” by AMC – the reality TV show about ad agencies pitching for new business, the client chooses not the strongest idea but the average idea that was presented in the slickest way. Interestingly, almost always, the agency that used video won the pitch! It seems that even seasoned marketers of big brands lack the strategic foresight and imagination to recognize brilliant positioning or the big campaign-able idea for their brand.
Presentation and Execution win over Strategy every time!
You can’t imagine the disappointment I felt when I was rudely awakened by the fact that Style beats Substance. Surely as a seasoned marketing consultant this is something that I should have known? Of course I did…but maybe my own knowledge and 20 years experience in the marketing industry, together with the knowledge of these 3 facts below, have been the very culprits that have clouded my mind and lulled me into a false sense of security:
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Most clients in the small business arena lack marketing strategy,
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Brilliant strategy is nothing without the execution and
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Great marketing strategy allows a company to create an execution that will WOW the target audience
How could I have become complacent about the very essence of marketing communication when it comes to our own business, something that I repeat to every one of our clients, every day of the week, which is that humans are mostly creatures driven by feelings not rationality, making emotional decisions and then justifying them with logic!
Maybe like me, you love what you do, but remember to place enough emphasis on the execution part, especially during the sales or pitch process, the very process that gives us the professional service providers or consultants the opportunity and privilege to work with the client in the first place!
“The Pitch” is a show that once again highlighted to me the basic human need to see explicitly the “finished product” or the “end result”.
People simply don’t have the time, imagination and desire to work hard and turn that great idea into a great execution or result, they’d rather buy the idea that simply looks good and is ready to use!
That’s why a furnished house will beat an unfurnished one at an auction and why an average idea executed well will beat a great idea executed in an average way!
Of course my judgement about “The Pitch” is subjective and based on the footage shown to us as TV viewers, whereas in reality that is outside of ‘Reality TV’ there would have been other factors at play other than a competition of brilliant ideas. The size of the agencies, their personalities, passion, the clients perception about the agency’s ability to make their idea come to life, would have all played a role in the client’s decision.
A lesson for all professional services providers and consultants – have the great idea but make sure you execute it brilliantly to win the client!
My only consolation is that once the ideas are accepted and put into practice the brand needs both substance and style to get the target audience engaged and all things ‘executional’ being equal, the better idea will win, but that sort of comparison is rarely possible!
“Industry executives and analysts often mistakenly talk about strategy as if it were some kind of chess match. But in chess, you have just two opponents, each with identical resources, and with luck playing a minimal role. The real world is much more like a poker game, with multiple players trying to make the best of whatever hand fortune has dealt them.” – David Moschella
But in the end it all comes down to relationships, being liked and playing the hand you’ve been dealt. People buy from people they like. Tall sales people out-perform short sales people and being attractive is likely to swing the odds of a deal in your favour which means that the rest of us who are under 6′ and do not belong on the cover of a fashion magazine just need to work smarter.
by admin | May 3, 2013 | Blog
When executed correctly, Content Marketing Strategy is the best form of win-win persuasion. Here are the 4 critical steps to implementation:
1. Make Your Content Marketing Unique and Persuasive
To be successful, your customers must understand the benefit to them when they choose you over someone else. Therefore, the most critical element of successful Content Marketing Strategy is developing useful and engaging content that provides appropriate, unique and convincing messages for your target audience. [1]
2. Develop Content that is easily shareable by your target audience
Ideally, this content is present within an inbound content destination (Website, Blog, Facebook Page, YouTube Channel, etc.), which successfully answers your customers’ key questions. It does not directly promote your products, but it invites your visitors to explore your solutions ‘no strings attached’. [2]
Your Content Marketing Strategy must have flexible content delivery options to suit the end users’ preferred format. Kraft is an absolute success story when considering openness to new opportunities and channel preferences. When Pinterest became popular, Kraft noticed users were actively sharing recipes and added a ‘Pin It’ button to the Kraft website to make it easier for users to share recipes, also creating their own ‘boards’ to share their thoughts with the audience. [3] Think electronic Word of Mouth Marketing – are you giving people a reason to talk about your products and services, and making it easier for that conversation to take place?
Another great case study is Volvo, whose brand identity wasn’t derived from its logo or product design; rather it was the constant stream of product reviews that published data on crash tests over time that formed the foundation for its brand. What other people subsequently said about Volvo created the meaning for their brand – Safety! [3]
Content Marketing Strategy is most effective when it facilitates ‘user generated content’ that is, having customers talk about your brand in the correct way and constantly engages with customers to contribute to this multi-channel ‘conversation’ to monitor and guide their customers’ perception and understanding.
3. Design Your Organisation to be focused on Helping Your Customers
Successful Content Marketing Strategy requires that your business’ culture has adapted to and embraced its importance, no longer yielding to the deeply held belief that marketing is required to promote your products. Your management team needs to understand why you need a Content Marketing Strategy and start to focus your organization on helping your customers. [2]
4. Define Content Marketing Success Measures
Finally, to know if you are being successful with your Content Marketing Strategy you must be able to define your measures of success, and then apply them! For example;
- How many early stage search terms drive traffic to your site (thus determining if you are answering your customers’ most important questions)?
- How many leads are generated from inbound (vs. outbound) sources?
- How much early stage content are you producing and how well does your target audience connect with this? [2]
Here are 2 tools that can assist you in making sure your Content Marketing Strategy is on track:
- Inbound Marketing Traffic and Leads Calculator
- One Page Online Marketing Action Plan
REFERENCES
[1] “5 Traits All Successful Content Marketers Share – Copyblogger”
[2] “What Is A Content Strategy And Why Do You Need It? – Forbes”
[3] “Successful Content Marketing in Action – Forbes”
by admin | Apr 23, 2013 | Blog
The internet, social and mobile revolutions have completely altered the state of play in how we all connect – there is now a seamless flow of instant information.[1]
No longer is the impression of your business driven by a singular marketing pitch or ad, your business is constantly exposed to an evolving audience. You need a Content Marketing Strategy to ensure your messaging and channel usage makes you visible and relevant amidst the ‘noise’ of the market.
Content Marketing Strategy requires that you know who your customers are, where they are in the buying process and what kinds of content and channel they prefer. It defines a targeted marketing method for each market segment, and then determines the correct resources to produce a consistent stream of relevant content mapped according to their needs. This is a complete change to the nature of marketing from the traditional linear marketing approach, which just isn’t as effective as it used to be. [2]
Content Marketing Strategy drives content development efficiency because it outlines the relevant tone…
Content Marketing Strategy ensures your content is engaging and relevant according to each customer type and it maintains consistency in messaging. Your customers will have an optimal information search experience because each market segment will have individual content paths created maximizing conversion rates (the conversion rate being the percentage of visitors to a website who take a specific action beyond a website visit, as a result of subtle or direct requests from marketers or content creators) as your content will be highly relevant.
…create greater customer loyalty and retention through customer education as early as possible in the buying process.
Content Marketing Strategy drives content development efficiency because it outlines the relevant tone, theme and structure of information as well as how content should be used over time so you are not constantly trying to reinvent the wheel. Ideally content should be produced only if it can be re-used, e.g. turning a blog post into a video or a series of tweets, or an e-book. [3]
The overall aim of Content Marketing Strategy is to create greater customer loyalty and retention through customer education as early as possible in the buying process.
However, incrementally the implementation of Content Marketing Strategy could well rescue marketing for your business because it forces you understand your customers, the stages of your buying process, your channel effectiveness and your business environment. It is the customer’s advocate for content within your business.
Sources
[1] “What Is A Content Strategy And Why Do You Need It? – Forbes”
[2] “Will Content Strategy Save Marketing? – B2B Marketing Insider”
[3] http://barbragago.com/blog/
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