A Marketing Consultancy Plan is a Necessity For a Business to Succeed

A marketing consultancy plan will help to ensure that your business is moving forward toward meeting your goals. Such a plan will outline a step-by-step guide designed to get your business, and your brand, out in the forefront of the people's minds that are likely to follow through. These targeted people are those most likely to convert to sales for your product or service.

Your Marketing Plan Needs to be Assessed Frequently

There are a number of proven tactics that can be useful when you are trying to market your brand. It is best when your approach to promoting your business includes a number of angles that are designed to target your potential clients. A truly effective marketing strategy means taking stock constantly to determine which efforts are successful and which efforts need to be tweaked in order to help your business to meet the goals you have set for it.

By working with a marketing consultancy firm, you will be assured of having their expertise in business working to your advantage. Your entire marketing operation will be analysed to order to provide you with the best plan to garner your business more attention. You will be given a plan of recommendations that, when implemented, will net you an increase in traffic to your website and follow throughs on your calls to action.

A Full Service Marketing Plan for Your Businesses

Many companies who offer marketing recommendations understand that you might not have the time or knowledge to implement their suggestions. For this reason, a company might offer a package deal that includes suggestions to promote your business as well as some implementation of the services recommended. This arrangement would be a good choice for the busy owner of a small to medium sized business.

In fact, an arrangement of this nature ensures that you are able to concentrate on those aspects of your business that you know best while leaving the promotion of your business, and the implementation of those services that are specifically targeted to your clients, to the experts in that field.

When a marketing consultancy plan includes such items as fresh content for your website, email campaigns, and social media blitzes, you will likely not have the time to give these items the attention they need in order for your business to reap the full rewards. Indeed, attempting to market your business can almost seem to be a full time job in itself.

Marketing Consultants Represent Your Company

When working with marketing consultants it's important to remember that they represent your company. There are times when clients may come into contact with your marketing consultants, and you want your clients to have a positive experience when dealing with any of your extended workforce.

Choosing a consultant who knows how to market your business and help improve your company is just as important as choosing a consultant who know how to represent your company to clients. So how do you know which marketing consultant offers the best representation? By conducting interviews and discussing your business philosophy with different consultants, you can ensure that you work with a consultant that not only markets your business well but is a good face for your company.

The Right Type of Reflection

You want your consultants to reflect your business in a positive light. Most consultancy firms understand this and strive to provide service that markets your business and falls in line with your business philosophy. Remember that this person may take meetings with some of your clients in order to go over campaigns or ideas that directly affect your clients. If your company holds a certain standard of dress and professional attitude, you want to make sure that the consultancy holds to the same standards. You don't want someone showing up in jeans when everyone else is wearing a suit. The same is true if you're a more casual business. It works best to partner with a marketing firm that doesn't appear overly stuffy so your clients and employees don't feel uncomfortable when dealing with them directly.

Reflective Marketing Materials

Whilst you will probably approve most, if not all, marketing materials, there may be times where the marketing firm has free reign to design and implement their own marketing materials. Make sure that the consultants you work with understand your company image and the image you want to present to clients. You may require them to run all materials by you first.
With a clear understanding, you can rest assured that marketing materials created by the firm for your company will meet your standards and fit the image of your company.

It's also important that if any of your marketing staff give a presentation to clients or your employees that they take into consideration their audience. Public speaking isn't for everyone, not even those who make a living from helping people market their business. When hiring a firm, make sure the marketing consultants have the sorts of skills you need and request the one that you feel reflects your business model and objectives the best.

Let a Marketing Consultancy Help You Discover Your Brand

A marketing consultancy firm can help you discover your brand and get it out to your clients and potential clients. A brand is the way you represent yourself to the public. Celebrities and large corporations work hard to brand themselves and gain recognition. But you don't need to be a celebrity or work for a large corporation in order to create a personal brand that clients recognise. You simply need to know how to take advantage of the web, social networking and carry your brand over onto business cards, and other pen and paper type business products. A consultant can help you create, design, and analyze your brand to make it the most effective brand for your business.

Creating the Brand

This is the area where most professionals need the most help. Branding takes a little more work now than a few years ago. Branding has become more competitive and requires that you find a niche in order to make a noticeable brand. Whether you run an online business or work for a corporation, you can find a niche that covers your area of expertise. A marketing consultancy will be able to work with you to narrow down exactly what your area of expertise is and how to best brand it for your clients.

If you specialise in web design, your consultant can help you create a logo and a design that emphasises your web design niche and market it to clients. If you're a realtor who specialises in a certain kind of seller, your consultant can help you market your brand and logo. The same is true for any professional area of expertise. Once the brand is created, you will work to market it and get your name out there. Beyond marketing collateral, you'll want a specialist who helps you with messaging as well!

Portfolios and Online Networking

The invention of online networking sites has taken branding to a whole new level. Now you can create a hard copy portfolio of your previous work to show potential clients and an online portfolio to showcase to interested clients who find your website or professional profile online. Your marketing consultant can advise you on the best sites to join and how to best market your brand through blogs, profile updates, or a personal website.

Many professionals and entrepreneurs who are trying to brand themselves don't realise that everything they post online is available to potential clients with a quick search. This is where the watchful eye of a marketing consultant comes in handy, since they can perform a quick search and recommend steps to take to clean up a messy or potentially damaging online reputation. No matter how you choose to brand yourself, working with a marketing consultancy can help you improve your brand and gain clients.

Marketing Consultancy is a Must For Every Business

Marketing consultancy services can benefit every business, regardless of its size and industry classification. Without the help of marketing professionals, a business is essentially selling itself short and typically at greater risk of not living up to its highest profit potential. With a majority of all businesses, profit is the name of the game.

Consultants understand that every business is unique. Therefore, they work with every client on an individual basis to help them meet individual goals and objectives.

Since an Internet presence is now almost as important as establishing a good relationship with brick-and-mortar based customers, these marketing firms are well versed in online marketing strategies as well.

Looking Into the Future

A good marketing consultancy firm doesn't proceed with creating a plan without asking the business owner to look into the future and determine where they want to be within a certain timeframe. The best results are achieved when a marketing plan is based on long-term goals instead of just the immediate future.

At this point, if the same business owner has never really taken the time to realise his future business goals the consultant will be there to make suggestions and help develop the best plan possible.

A Major Benefit

A major benefit, perhaps the most important one, of this type of consultancy is the fact that business owners can concentrate on other aspects of their business while the consultant continues to develop and execute their marketing plan.

This is especially beneficial to new business owners who do not know the "ins and outs" of business related-marketing. It is much more practical and economical in the long run to have a professional take on the job so you can focus on your own core strengths.

Starting a new business is typically very stressful. Hiring a marketing consultant or consultancy firm is an excellent way to reduce some of that stress and help to ensure that the business is essentially on the right track, from day one.

Choosing the Right Firm

Choosing the right firm probably will not happen overnight. To be successful, marketing strategies cannot be taken lightly or put off until another time. Because there are many firms to choose from, this task may seem somewhat daunting. However, there is no reason to put it off. A professional firm will never have a problem sharing their portfolio or success stories with any business that inquires. Armed with this information, deciding on the best marketing company will typically be a much easier process.

Online Vs Offline Marketing - Should You Be Doing Both?

Are you interested in making a splash with your marketing efforts? Are you wondering where to concentrate your efforts between online marketing and offline marketing? It's important to do both online and offline campaigns. But your unique business model and your goals impact where you should concentrate the majority of your efforts and your advertising budget. The biggest 'bang' for your buck may happen online, though so don't discount the potential of the Internet. This all depends on your business.

How will you stack up against competitors? What will be required for you to grow your business/ Your strategy should depend on a number of factors and one of those should be your niche market and your geographical area. If you're a small local business in a rural part of the country, you may want to focus your efforts more locally, through print advertising, radio announcements, television, and direct mail. The web can be advantageous anyway. Sure, you'll grab attention through coupons and flyers but many people looking for whatever it is that you sell will probably look online to help them decide who to call / where to go, etc. This can be especially important when trying to grow or when trying to penetrate a market that's served by an established competitor.

One of the great things about online marketing is that you can quite easily measure total cost of ownership and return on investment. Traditional campaigns can take months to measure but internet campaigns can take little to no time to see how they're working out. The internet can have more longevity as well. Spending money on a campaign could pay dividends now and dividends on an ongoing basis where print marketing can have a much shorter shelf life.

As a business owner, you'll want to spread your efforts out over multiple mediums. Email marketing, print advertising, direct mail, search engine optimisation, article marketing, press releases, blogging, social marketing, and other areas can all contribute toward your success.

If you're not sure where to start or don't have the cycles to manage this on your own, consider seeking help of a consultant. Look to a marketing consultant who can help with both online and offline strategies.

Some consultants have expertise primarily offline but some consultants have expertise in both the web and the brick and mortar world. Be sure to work with someone who will listen to you and who can show you measurable return on your investment.

Look for a Business Marketing Professional to Help with your SWOT Analysis

Hire a business marketing professional to help perform a SWOT analysis on your business. This analysis can help your business move forward. Whilst your current business team can do it, hiring a business marketing professional to help conduct your SWOT analysis is beneficial. An impartial party reviewing your business to determine your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) can provide a clear, unbiased view of your current performance as well as future prospects. Self-Study Bring in your supervisors, directors or other top people to get a vision of the big picture first. Get their perspective as well as those of key customers and even major vendors. Brainstorm key issues that your business and the marketplace face. Encourage everyone to make comments and suggestions without worrying about any judgment. Observations may include strengths and potential growth opportunities as well as weaknesses and failures. Evaluate all the significant issues that crop up during the brainstorming session and outline potential action plans to address them. Your hired business marketing professional is in the best position to help with the plan of action as they will best know the marketplace and know how to capitalise on strengths and opportunities and minimise weaknesses and failures. Strengths and Weaknesses Strengths are often the easiest to identify and may include a strong financial position, excellent personnel and management, a solid marketing plan and cost-effective production. Weaknesses are often the considered the elephant in the room. You know you have them but don’t want to acknowledge them. However, with the right SWOT analysis, you can tackle those weaknesses and turn them into strengths and opportunities. Weaknesses may appear as insufficient liquid cash to use for expansion of a new product line or poor management and personnel. The products may be outdated or customer service and after-sales service may be ineffective. Poor production schedules and outdated equipment could be contributing factors. Opportunities and Threats Threats are often easy to spot and must be prepared for. It could be in the form of a key employee that leaves for the competition – with full knowledge of your business practices. Price increases from vendors, rate hikes in rent, legislative changes, market recessions and more contribute to potential threats too. Identified opportunities can mean a boost of business for you. Perhaps it is the failure of a competitor’s product line or the addition of a new sales distribution outlet. A new customer base and innovative technologies that lower production costs are additional opportunities. Every business – large and small – should perform a SWOT analysis on occasion to maintain their competitive edge. Once the analysis is performed, a clear plan of action can be put into play. With the help of a business marketing professional who is knowledgeable about the marketplace, your business can take advantage of those opportunities and minimize its weaknesses to avoid failure.

Doing Company Marketing Through Social Media? Get Info and Manage Your Reputation, too

How do you manage your online reputation? If you’re using social media sites to help you with company marketing campaigns, you should also consider using them to help you with your reputation management as well as data mining needs. Social marketing tools can provide a lot of valuable information to you about your customers, your prospects, what people think and say about your brand, and about succeeding online and offline. Using social media for business is an excellent step toward effectively marketing online. Many successful businesses use tools such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and other such tools to reach people who use them in their daily life and those people, who could be customers might be interested in connecting with you through those tools. In fact, you can often use the tools to find new potential customers as well. A lot of companies use Facebook fan pages, post on a company Twitter account, and use social bookmarking services to help them draw attention to articles, blog posts, and press releases. More company marketing campaigns than ever use many of these tools to push out information. But some forget to use them to mine for information as well. Social Media and Data Mining You can gather business intelligence through these tools. Find out: • Who is linking to your site • Who is talking about your products and / or services (and what they’re saying) • Who might be a good candidate to market to, based on user preferences and keywords used You can also use these tools to build authority in your niche. By developing a list of followers and interacting with them, you can do a good deal of relationship marketing and the great thing about the venue is that everything you do can: attract new customers, improve your SEO (search engine optimisation and traffic levels), and help you increase your sales. Because social media tools optimise your site while real-time conversations happen, results can be surprising. Use these tools to talk to others, to find who to talk to, to learn what’s being said about your brand, you, and your industry, and even make direct sales as a result of a tweet, re-tweet, or social bookmarking ‘thumbs up’. Is it any wonder that so many companies use social media tools for marketing purposes? It’s important that you learn how to capitalise on these tools. Don’t jump in head first! There are “wrong” and ineffective ways of using social media. Getting solid advice about a good company marketing plan to launch will help you take advantage of the amazing free tools that are out there.

Business Marketing with Web 2.0

If you’re planning on using the web for business marketing, it’s a good idea to look at Web 2.0 tools for help. Whilst your website, your blog, and articles directories will all work for you to help you grow your business, web 2.0 tools can give you even more power to: • Build rapport with your customers, • Collaborate, • Develop your brand, • And improve your online presence with search engines. People use many web 2.0 tools to connect with others in terms of business and pleasure. Those connections can benefit your business in many ways. Let’s look at a few examples: Facebook People of all ages are on Facebook. You can market to those who have heard of you through groups and fan pages and you can market to those who you’re interested in appealing to through targeted contextual Facebook ads. There are great advertising opportunities as well as Facebook applications that you can use to appeal to your potential customers. Facebook looks really casual but that’s part of the appeal. Businesses can talk to their existing and potential customers in many ways, such as by talking about promotions, asking for opinions, and sharing information about new products and promotions. Twitter Twitter is a micro blog so while you can’t write a long article about something, you can deliver bite-sized updates and include links that go into more detail. The Dell company used Twitter for business marketing and was able to attribute over a million dollars in sales to that account. They built a Twitter account talking about clearance sales that were on and in a short time was able to search their web analytics software and account for over a million extra US dollars in sales directly related to that Twitter ID. Twitter allows 140 character updates but also allows you to connect with your followers. You can use tools to mine Twitter for information about what people are saying about your brand and you can answer queries as well as talk about promotional things. People can get these updates on the web, their desktop, and their mobile devices and if you’re creative with Twitter you can appeal to many people who may buy from you as a result. Social Bookmarking Social bookmarking tools can help your business be at the centre of online conversations. Submit a great story to Digg.com that gets discussed about in an online water cooler and you can drive traffic to your website as a result. Bookmark blog posts and product announcements and more people have a chance of seeing the info you want to share. Add social bookmarking buttons to your pages and your visitors may share your page with their online followers and bring you new potential customers. If you’re interested in learning more about using the Web for business marketing, I can help. Subscribe to this blog for regular updates that can be delivered to you or visit my website to learn more about my business marketing services.