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Article Title:
==============
Why Outsourcing Marketing Support Often Doesn't Work (And How To Make Sure It Does For You)
Article Description:
====================
This story, while extreme, is unfortunately more the rule than
the exception. It is not that marketing support companies are
hucksters who out to exchange a little jargon and magic dust for
your hard-earned money. But good intentions and a toolkit of
marketing tactics are often not enough for truly effective
marketing. The 5 most common reasons marketing support doesn't
work are:
Additional Article Information:
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845 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line
Distribution Date and Time: 2006-06-22 10:36:00
Written By: Judy Murdoch
Copyright: 2006
Contact Email: mailto:judy@judymurdoch.com
For more free-reprint articles by Judy Murdoch, please visit:
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Why Outsourcing Marketing Support Often Doesn't Work (And How To Make Sure It Does For You)
Copyright � 2006 Judy Murdoch
Highly Contagious Marketing
http://www.judymurdoch.com/workbook.htm
Once upon a time, not so long ago, a small but growing software
company hired a marketing consultant to help them with their
ecommerce business. The marketing consultant said to them, "If
you give me $10,000" I will bring you all the customers you
could ever wish for." So with high hopes, the company owner gave
the consultant $10,000 and waited for the promised customers to
come. The consultant would visit and bring wise men and women
along who would ask the business owner and his employees lots of
questions and to fill out many forms. Two months passed and the
company received a long report filled with phrases such as
"adopter categories", "Paid inclusion", "proactive CRM
process", and so on. The company owner called the marketing
consultant and asked, "Now what?"
"Just follow our recommendation," said the consultant.
Thinking he had somehow missed something important, the owner,
his business partner, and their part-time programmer read the
report very carefully looking for all traces of the recommended
plan of action. Still they found nothing they could use.
Again the business owner called the consultant. "The only
recommendations we found were six bullet points on page 14 and
one of those bullet points wasn't even a real sentence."
"We have helped hundreds of businesses like yours become
millionaires many times over," replied the consultant. "If you
need more support we would be more than happy to help with our
six-month implementation plan."
"What does that involve?" asked the owner.
"We use a dynamic and proactive CRM process that guarantees
targeted eyeballs using multiple streaming channels and viral
e-services, providing the best ROI on your investment"
"What does it cost?" asked the owner
"$50,000." answered the consultant.
"$10,000 was our marketing budget for the year."
"Perhaps next year then," said the marketing consultant.
Needless to say the promised customers never did appear. The
software company made it through the year. Barely. Needless to
say, the owner is now extremely gun shy of hiring anyone to help
with their marketing even though he readily admits he needs
help.
This story, while extreme, is unfortunately more the rule than
the exception. It is not that marketing support companies are
hucksters who out to exchange a little jargon and magic dust for
your hard-earned money. But good intentions and a toolkit of
marketing tactics are often not enough for truly effective
marketing.
The 5 most common reasons marketing support doesn't work are:
Reason 1: Vague steps for implementation.
Would you pay a golf pro $100 an hour if the advice you received
was along the lines of "Just take the club and hit the ball as
hard as you can." Yet it's not at all unusual to get advice
like "Go to lots of networking events where you can meet
prospective customers." Unless you are one of the rare persons
who is gifted with the skills and intuition for consistently
turning casual meetings into customer relationships, trying to
follow vague advice will leave you feeling inept and burned out.
Reason 2: Steps for implementation are way too big.
Even if it is specific, when steps are too large, we don't do
them. For example, the goal "create three product descriptions
for my web site" may seem pretty specific for many of you. Then
why is it that there are so many unfinished websites out there?
Because some of us need to take really small steps. Baby steps to
make progress. A manageable step for some of us might be more
like "list five things customers should know about my
product."
Reason 3: Taking a "one size fits all" approach.
Marketing and sales are the way you connect with and ultimately
forge a relationship with your customers. If your message comes
across as bland and impersonal--like something anyone in your
industry could say--you aren't giving people a compelling reason
to do business with you. You want a marketing support partner who
"gets" your business and makes sure that your unique voice
comes through loud and clear to your customers.
Reason 4: Mistaking tactics for marketing.
Creating a brochure is not marketing. Nor is a website, an
advertisement, or a direct mail letter. These are all marketing
TOOLS. They are methods--tactics, if you prefer-that you use to
connect with prospective customers. Tactics need to work together
to support your marketing strategy and objectives. You and your
marketing support partner need to have a solid understanding of
what your customers need, the unique solutions you offer, and the
market in which you compete. Without this foundation you're
basically taking shots in the dark.
Reason 5: Failing to set benchmarks and track progress.
In my book, marketing, especially small business marketing is
about results. By results I mean more ideal customers, more
referrals, a higher percentage of visitors who buy something from
your website, etc. If you're not getting measurable results from
your marketing, you are throwing away your money. You want to
work with someone who insists that you develop and set measurable
objectives by which you measure the effectiveness of your
marketing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Judy Murdoch helps small business owners create low-cost,
effective marketing campaigns using word-of-mouth referrals,
guerrilla marketing activities, and selected strategic alliances.
To download a free copy of the workbook, "Where Does it Hurt?
Marketing Solutions to the problems that Drive Your Customers
Crazy!" go to http://www.judymurdoch.com/workbook.htm
You can contact Judy at 303-475-2015 or judy@judymurdoch.com
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