How to Get Good Marketing Advice

I went through an experience of trying to get some legal advice to grow my business. It took me four lawyers (and countless hours of my own research) to find the person who was the most prepared to be able to help me. When I found the right person, the process was easy. She knew what I wanted and could deliver it and I paid the retainer that same day.

Advice is plentiful but most of it is not going to help you. It’s worth pursuing the good advice because it will save you time and money (and frustration) down the road. Here is a process of how to get good marketing advice for your business.

1. Determine What You Want

The answer here might seem obvious – more customers, more sales, more market share – but there is a little more to it than that. For example, what kind of “more customers” do you want? Do you want to recruit recurring customers, one-time customers, customers in a certain geographical area, or customers of a certain demographic? There are many types of customers, so get specific about what you want.

You need to know this because it changes the marketing you need to achieve your goal. If you want to reach customers in a new geographical area, then you need to focus your marketing on that geographical area. It does you little good to produce a campaign in ABC Town when you want to grow customers in XYZ Town.

If you think that sounds too simplistic in reasoning, read on!

2. Choose the Person Who Can Deliver What You Want

Let’s say you determine that you want to grow your customer base in ABC Town. Who is the best person to help you do that?

It might be a radio station in that town. It might be someone who will produce a directed ad campaign to target that town. It might be Google ads directed to that geographical region. Or maybe it is someone who could cold call certain prospects on your behalf.

To choose the person who can deliver what you want, you need to ask them how they have delivered it before or what their strategy would be for you. Marketing to a new geographical region will likely involve several communication tools, so if the person you’re interviewing for this work has only one way, you will need to find more people who have other ways.

3. Recognize The Sales Pitch

While going through this process, be mindful of the difference between someone interested in marketing versus someone focused on selling their business. How will you know? Because you spent the time on the previous two points – determining what you want and then choosing the person who can deliver what you want.

If a radio station can deliver ads, but not in ABC Town, then they are not the right marketing choice. If a digital marketing company does lots of website work, but can’t be specific about how they will target your exact demographic in ABC Town, they are not the right marketing choice.

A lot of people sell a lot of things. You are one person who wants to buy a particular thing. Remember that.

4. Make an Informed Decision

When I was looking for a financial planner, I asked two people I respected for referrals. They each gave me the names of their advisors. I interviewed both and asked only one thing: I don’t want insurance right now.

The first advisor told me what they do how they do it and what they would do for me. They said that given what I had to invest, it would take some time to show a result, but they would work with me on that.

The second advisor told me that I needed insurance plus he would put me on the same plan as the person who had referred him. (That person had 10 times more money than I did, two children, several other investments, and two income-generating properties. I had none of that.)

I went with the first advisor. I determined what I wanted, I chose the person who could provide it and there was no sales pitch.

The BLUF: Bottom-Line UpFront

Marketing is not everyone’s favourite activity. Most business owners I have met rank it a close second to human resources in what they like least about running a business. However, like human resources, it has to be done, so your best bet is to find a strategy that accomplishes the task in the way that works best for you.

Marketing with Purpose

For a desk reference in good marketing, pick up a copy of Forward Thinking for Your Business. You can order today at Amazon US, Amazon Canada, or contact Jennifer directly.

If you need to book consulting time with Jennifer, email her at [email protected] or call 613-312-7824.