You know who’s busy? You are. As a business owner, there are so many things you have to think about in your day-to-day: from managing employees to billing, coordinating with various vendors, navigating taxes and actually working, there just don’t seem to be enough hours in the day!
So, when do you have time to stop and think about how you’re driving new customers? One study found that 97% of local businesses are running some form of DIY marketing, which means that the majority of business owners are doing some, or all, of their marketing themselves.
I mean, do you have time to sleep?
Probably not. So, lay down your weary head and let us tell you about some of the real ways working with a marketing partner can help you win back some of your precious time — and snag more customers, while you’re at it!
Stay on Top of the Latest Marketing Updates & Trends
Just like you’re an expert in your line of work, marketing companies are experts in marketing. So, it’s our job to stay on top of the latest marketing tips and trends. If you’ve ever tried to keep up with even one aspect of marketing, like search engines, you know it can be super complicated. (And if you landed on this blog, that probably means you’re spending some time researching about marketing, right?)
It’s a lot to keep up with. Search engines, like Google, make thousands of updates every single day. And, while the majority of those updates go unnoticed, some of them require changes to your campaigns, your website, or your overall marketing strategy so they keep working well (and getting you the best results for your dollar).
A smart marketing partner can stay up-to-date on these trends — and make the changes that really matter — so you don’t have to. And, if you really want to know more about marketing, a smart marketing partner can also help keep you updated on the need-to-know.
Help You Get Leads
When you spend time running your own marketing, it can be easy to default to set-it-and-forget-it. I mean, you’ve got a lot going on, so why not just put a few things on autopilot?
The big problem with this is if changes need to happen to keep your campaigns driving results, you end up wasting money because you don’t have time to stay on top of daily updates. You want to set it and forget it. (Who are we kidding, you need to.) But you also need to get results, or you wouldn’t need marketing to begin with. So to stay up to pace with the change of the internet, your marketing really needs regular TLC.
That’s where a great marketing partner comes in.
A marketing partner can stay on top of your marketing to help you capture the leads — like form fills, emails, and phone calls — you need to grow your business.
Part of what you’re investing in when you work with a marketing partner is their skills and time in optimizing your actual campaigns so that your investment is driving great results.
(Think about it this way — when you buy a cake from a bakery, you’re not just paying for the eggs, flour, sugar, and other ingredients that are combined to make a cake, right? You’re paying for the skills and time and talent it takes to bring all of that together for the delicious — not to mention beautiful — results a professional baker can produce!)
A great online marketing partner can help produce delicious results from your marketing.
Make Sense of Your Marketing Success
Another reason business owners tell us they let their marketing run on autopilot is that they just don’t understand what’s actually working to get results or even how to measure their success to begin with. When you’re running some or all of your marketing campaigns yourself, you have to access reporting in about 100 different places. Let’s be honest: you probably don’t have time to go to all these sources, run through the numbers, and then match those up with your leads or increased revenue to determine what helped your business.
Beyond the sheer amount of time it can take to wrangle the data from DIY marketing reports, there’s always the question of — what numbers actually matter? What metrics do you care about? What magic number are you trying to hit to quantify a campaign as a success? It’s a lot to sort out on your own.
When you work with a smart marketing partner that really knows their stuff, you should get reports that show you all the numbers. Plus, a marketing partner can explain to you what all the numbers around your marketing reports mean so you understand what tactics are actually driving the right results for your business. This all helps you not just see the value in what you’re doing today but also makes you smarter about where to focus your efforts moving forward.
Show You How Consumers See Your Business Online
As a business owner, it’s important to understand how potential customers experience your business online. But it’s a bit overwhelming to wrap your head around. There are so many websites and social media sites and niche listing sites out there! How do you know what to focus on?
Is someone checking out your reviews on a site like ratemyplumbers.com (I thought I made that up — but it’s a real site!)? Is your business address listed correctly on some directory site you’ve never heard of but your target customers actually use? And, what information are searchers finding out about you on these random sites?
A marketing partner can help you hone in on how most consumers experience your business online (it’s something we call your “web presence”). They can help sort out the answers to some of these online mysteries, clean up your web presence, and make sure that searchers are finding only accurate information about your business. They can help you focus in on the sites and places that are making a big impact. And, they can help you take control of what people are seeing about you with services like reputation management and campaigns that help boost your brand awareness.
Figure Out a Great Marketing Mix for Your Business
Speaking of being where you need to be online (and offline), there are so many different channels where you can market your business. You want to make sure you’re reaching the right audience, but you’ve only got so much you can do. How can you target your marketing investment to get the biggest impact? Where is your audience spending their time or searching for businesses like yours?
Building a relationship with a smart marketing partner can help you figure out what your marketing strategy should look like. They can use industry insights, marketing expertise, and an understanding of your business and unique goals to build a marketing plan that works for you. And, when you work with a marketing partner that can market you across multiple channels, your overall marketing approach can really benefit. Not only do you not have to work with 25 different vendors — a marketing partner that can see how different types of campaigns and tactics are working together can really become almost like an extension of your own team. And over time, they’ll learn what’s working for your business and how to take the data and insights from one thing, and apply it to another. We call that a win-win!
Do You Have a Smart Marketing Partner?
You don’t have to tell us — there are countless marketing partners to choose from. We get it!
But you’re also a smart cookie. You probably caught on that we think the smart marketing partner you should choose to work with is us!
We want to work with you and take something off your plate. So, why don’t you give us a call and see what we could do to help? We can do all the above and more to put you in control of your marketing, while also giving you back your time.
We’ll be waiting by the phone!