1. You think marketing is only advertising
Not always. Marketing is the sum total of all that you do to create an impression in the mind of your customer…good and bad. Your sales process, your storefront, your employees, your website, your business card…everything you and your employees do develops an impression. Advertising is the outward presentation of your brand. If your advertising doesn’t match a customer’s expectations, then your results will suffer. A marketing agency can be an unbiased resource…an additional pair of eyes that can uncover your brand and reflect it properly in your advertising.
2. You don’t have/know your budget
Every business should have a marketing budget. It should be like paying the light bill each and every month on a long-term basis. By not having a budget, you shouldn’t be surprised when you don’t have a handle on where it’s going. Setting a budget and keeping to that budget will be the best money you ever spent. Unfortunately, marketing and advertising aren’t seen a necessities because too many business owners have been disappointed by results. When a business sets a budget, keeps to the budget, and reviews that budget on a regular basis, the results are easy to quantify. Having a budget and seeing results will make you happy. It takes constant adjusting and refinement to keep the marketing plan on track towards your goal. Hiring a marketing agency can be the start of setting a realistic budget you can live with, and profit from.
3. You think advertising doesn’t work
You have a business. You sell things. Your growth is limited by one of two things:
(1) The right people haven’t heard about you because if they did, they would surely buy from you.
(2) The right people have heard about you, they just didn’t care.
The grand illusion of marketing – used by every seller of advertising – is that your problem is that “you’re not reaching the right people”…and it’s usually followed by a quick pitch of a plan to do just that. Hogwash. The right people are listening, and hiring a marketing agency will better determine the best way to speak to those people in a way that generates results. An experienced marketing agency will evaluate your business goals and the hurdles you need to overcome in order to succeed and then develop a plan to exceed those goals.
4. It’s not fun
If you are attempting to run the daily operations of your business and then trying to squeeze in some marketing on the side it will show. Not every business owner is going to enjoy the marketing aspect of his or her business, and that is fine, but lackluster efforts will be evident if you are not 100% into and focused on your marketing effort. Marketing agencies have a very deep love and passion for what they do, and that type of creativity and excitement will be reflected in ideas that work. Then, it’ll be fun again.
5. You don’t have the experience/time
You are a business owner, yet that doesn’t mean you are automatically going to be a marketing expert as well. Your marketing channels go far beyond the traditional means both internal and external. Times have changed. Technology has changed. Consumer media consumption has changed. A full time marketing professional can manage with the creativity and experience you need to propel your brand to the top and help you reach your growth goals. Hiring a marketing agency will allow you to instantly benefit from their skills and experience.
Greg Yokanovich, Partner – Director of Business Development
