Why should you market your products and services? Simply put, the make-it-and-they-will-come approach to growing a business won’t succeed 99% of the time. You have to let prospects know that you’re out there and you have to let them know the right way if you hope to earn leads, sales, or growth. You have to have a marketing team on your side – whether internal or external. You need someone advocating for you to customers, delivering messages that draw them into your product and services effectively and, preferably, cost efficiently.
expectations and reality
Just as with anyone you bring on board your company, you must review your marketing team’s resume and set out expectations for them to achieve. There are a couple of key things to keep in mind when hiring an outside agency or filling an internal marketer job post. Remember to:
- Review their track record. Do they have experience performing the types of tasks with which you need assistance? Maybe you need online marketing, maybe you need traditional, or maybe you need public relations (which is something different altogether). Review what they have done and what they have achieved in light of your own business needs.
- Hire proactive independent thinkers. If you already knew what to do, you would do it yourself – right? Hire someone who can guide you in the right direction and bring new strategies to the table that work for you. Don’t hire someone who will just agree with what you say; hire a firm or individual that has the ability to think objectively, proactively, and strategically about your business objectives.
- Demand regular, accurate results reports. You hired your marketing team to grow your company through effective customer outreach. If they are doing their job effectively, they should be able to provide you with reach and result analytics. Although these may be more difficult to pinpoint depending upon the industry you’re in (healthcare vs. retail) your marketing partner should have some idea of how their work impacts your bottom line.
Follow these basic steps when selecting an outside marketing agency or new marketing team member, and you will be sure to get the best return on your investment.