Showing posts with label marketing company. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marketing company. Show all posts

Monday 1 July 2013

A Devolution Of Power From Big Business In The Marketing World?


Traditionally, most companies employing more than thirty or so staff would have their own in-house marketing department, dedicated to market research and running marketing campaigns. In a post credit crunch world however, the face of in-house marketing is changing as departments have their budgets slashed and workloads increased. Exactly how this is affecting UK companies is an interesting tale.


In the past, SMEs were the main clients for a typical marketing company. Whilst larger companies outsourced to some of the more global players in marketing, traditionally marketing campaigns were run in house by specific marketing departments. Since the economic downturn, however, marketing departments have shrunk whilst workloads have increased meaning marketing companies are suddenly seeing an increase in business from medium and larger companies.

A report published this year by Charterhouse, the market services company, surveyed 200 marketing professionals in the UK and Western Europe. The results were music to the ears of marketing companies although rather unwelcome news to some marketing departments.

The results of the survey largely suggested that marketing departments in medium to larger sized firms are struggling to cope and, as a result, outsourcing more and more work to their respective marketing company. As a result, personnel in marketing departments have become more like administrators than marketers, coordinating the relationship between the department and the marketing firm.

On the other hand, the report is fantastic news for the UK’s marketing companies with 52% of UK respondents stating their departments were now dependent in some capacity on marketing companies. Over a third of respondents said their companies were entirely dependent on third party marketing firms for creativity in their marketing campaigns, with over half saying they had outsourced creativity in some form or another. One might argue that this devolution in power from some of the larger companies is no bad thing and in line with the governments call to SMEs to prop up the UK’s flat-lining economy.

Moreover, the report signals good news for the marketing industry on the whole, with 67% of respondents agreeing their companies or departments were doing more work. Social media was at least partly responsible for this increase in work, with 61% of respondents agreeing that this relatively new marketing tool had contributed to their increase in workloads.

In conclusion, the report’s findings polarise opinions within the marketing world. Whilst large companies with sizeable marketing departments have to outsource more work as their current staff levels cannot cope, smaller businesses and third party marketing companies are benefiting as a result. For the marketing industry on the whole, however, the news seems positive with more work and jobs in small businesses as a result.

Thursday 16 August 2012

Kickstart Your Business Growth With Expert Marketing Assistance

Have you recently launched a new business or are you about to launch? No matter how confident you are in your product or service, getting your new business out into the world can be a daunting prospect.

According to an article by the National Business Association, marketing is cited as the major reason 64 per cent of new businesses fail. It doesn’t necessarily follow that these companies that went under did not spend any money on marketing, but rather in some cases that the marketing they did was inconsistent or ineffective.

For some inexplicable reason, some business owners view marketing as a ‘bolt on’ activity – a ‘nice to have’ – when the stark reality is that marketing is a ‘must have’ for every single business that wants to survive in these ultra-competitive times we live in.

So should you use marketing companies to take on your marketing for you, or should you take the DIY route?


For any new business, having a marketing expert on board from the start can be a great way to kickstart your company’s growth. The main advantage here is that those marketing companies which are experienced in your trade or industry will have accumulated a wealth of knowledge which can readily be put into practice. Not only will this save you a huge chunk of time over the coming days and weeks, but you will not be wasting your efforts going down blind alleys in trying out marketing activities which may not bear fruit.

As there are now many hundreds of marketing companies online which you may choose to employ, it’s well worth checking out their websites as the first port of call (particularly the sections on achievements and testimonials) to see who might be a good fit for you.

Something you might want to consider: is your preferred marketing company on the first page of Google for all the main ‘marketing’ keywords and phrases? If not, can you reasonably expect they will be able to achieve this for your business?

Once you’ve narrowed it down (anything from 3-6 potential ‘partners’), then why not call up your shortlist of marketing companies and ask them what they can do to kickstart your new business?
One final thing to bear in mind: don’t sign up with anyone who won’t let you have a trial period or who tries to tie you into a long contract. Any marketing professional worth his or her salt should be confident enough in their abilities not to have to resort to these sorts of underhand tactics.

Wednesday 7 December 2011

Time to bring in the marketing experts?


Every company, whether small and local or large and multinational, will find itself going through peaks and troughs. Depending on where the problem lies – whether it is the result of external market forces or problems within the company itself – there are certain times when it may behove you to call in the services of a professional marketing company

These exist to help businesses develop methods to keep bringing in new clients and present their goods and services to the world in the best possible way. But how do you know when your company might benefit from a little help in this department? 



Here are some signs to look out for:

  • Behind the competition?: If your biggest competitors seem to be everywhere you turn, it may well be because they’ve devised a more effective marketing strategy than you have. You don’t want to lose out to them, so this is the time to hire an expert in before you begin to lose customers to them. If you’re less visible than your competitors, who are clients going to choose?

  • Not enough time: If you’re constantly putting things off, or you and your employees never have enough time in the day, it may well be that you have overextended yourself. If this is the case then there is no way you are going to be able to devote the necessary amount of time to promotion. Hiring in a marketing company will pay two-fold in this situation: Firstly, they will re-invigorate your marketing strategy; and secondly, they should be able to suggest practical ways for you to make better use of your time.

  • Lack of leads: This is one of the clearest signs that your marketing strategy is failing somewhere. Rather than sitting back and waiting for the customers to come to you, you should be using all means at your disposal – print media, billboards, the internet, word-of-mouth or whatever else you can think of – to get your message out there. If you aren’t getting the leads then you clearly aren’t doing this in the most effective way, or often enough. Time, then, to seek outside advice.

  • High employee turnover: This can be for many reasons, but employees will often be dissatisfied if they feel there is a lack of direction or structure to their role. A clear marketing strategy gives employees something to focus on, and also creates a more dynamic, positive working atmosphere are the new business begins to come in. Bringing in the services of a marketing company for a limited period of time will set you on the right track and hopefully ensure your staff feel motivated enough to stick around.

Saturday 9 April 2011

Is it Worthwhile to Outsource to a Marketing Company?

Hiring a marketing company can be a great idea for a business who wants to grow or sustain themselves but who doesn't want to (or can't) hire their own internal marketing department. Hiring a marketing consultant or company definitely has its advantages, such as: activity based costing, varied expertise, zero commitment, and being able to pay for results. Let's look at each of these areas a bit closer:

Activity Based Costing

Companies have peaks and valleys with marketing. But salaries aren't this way. You have to pay your full-time marketing staff full time, whether there's something big happening or not. Hiring a marketing company could mean that you're only paying for whatever is going on.

Activity based costing is still something you can budget for. But here's a tip:

Having a variable budget may work well in this case though as your activities could bring about a revenue boost that allows you to allocate more money to further marketing efforts that year1

Varied Expertise

Hiring a marketing company or marketing consultants can give your company access to a wide array of expertise. Need help with your website? Need a business plan? Looking for help securing venture capital? By working with a marketing company rather than hiring a marketing person in house, you could access various sources as you need them. A marketing company offers you executives without your having to pay a marketing executive's high salary. And with activity based costing, you can seek out the services you need as you need them.

Zero Commitment

Unless you're signing a specific contract, you generally don't have a level of commitment with a marketing company. Many firms exist that will work with you as and when you need it. It's smart to work on your marketing efforts throughout your whole fiscal year but of course there will be times when you don't need as strong a focus.

This zero commitment set up can be very useful for a small business or a start-up who is trying to hit the ground running but doesn't have a long term plan yet. And, when you work with a contractor, you aren't dealing with labour laws and tribunals if the relationship doesn't work out. You can end a relationship with a marketing company much easier than ending a relationship with a full time employee.

Pay for Results

Some consultancies even offer guaranteed satisfaction, offering you a "pay for results" plan. This can remove the risk.





If activity based marketing costs makes sense to you, start looking for the right marketing company to deal with. The right terms and the right relationship could be a huge benefit to your business.

Looking for more articles why not check out these Squidoo articles at
http://www.squidoo.com/marketing-company-services

Advice from a 21st Century Marketing Company

Are your marketing concepts current? Or are you still stuck on the dark age concepts of the 20th century? Are you even marketing at all? Read on for some tips from a 21st century marketing company that can help you avoid the traps that come companies fall into.

Don't be Out of Touch

A large number of business owners, both large and small, are so busy managing what their business does on a daily basis that they begin to lose touch with the pulse of their industry and the world of effective marketing. Don't lose touch otherwise you could find yourself archaic. Are you using current marketing concepts? Is your company on the cutting edge? Do you know who your competitors are and how they're faring in the current market place? If you don't, it's time to get in touch with what's going on so you don't miss the boat and get left behind --- enabling competitors to woo away your customers.

Don't Get too Comfortable

Beyond being out of touch with what's happening outside the walls of your office, you could make the mistake of getting too comfortable. Don't take customer loyalty for granted. Don't take employee loyalty for granted, either. Companies need to spread their eggs out so that if one or two of their baskets disappears it doesn't crumble their company. The same goes for staff. Are any of your staff members indispensable? Big mistake! Yes, strive for happy employees with great corporate morale but develop cross functional teams so that your company can cope if an employee falls ill, jumps ship for a better offer, or wins the lottery.

Do Your Homework

Is your company using the same marketing methods that you used in 1997? Yikes! Time to gather some business intelligence. Learn about your industry, your competition, 21st century marketing methods, and formulate a plan to get your company caught up! Seek help if necessary.




Get Some Help!

You're probably too busy running your business to focus on marketing. That's why it pays to hire a marketing company who knows 21st century techniques. A marketing company can help you analyse your existing infrastructure, research your niche for trends and gap analysis, and develop a marketing plan that will help your company to move forward with confidence and the tools necessary to compete and thrive in the current business climate.

There has never been a better time to unleash the power of the internet to help you gather business intelligence and appeal to your customers. A marketing company can focus on these things so that you can focus on what you're expert at doing.

If you are interested in further articles please follow this link

http://jenkinsonandassociates.wordpress.com/

Or this one
http://www.sooperarticles.com/authors/94571/chris-jenkinson.html

Sunday 13 March 2011

Picking a UK Marketing Company - Essential Tips

Are you looking to hire a UK based marketing agency to help you with your design and marketing? Here are some tips to help you find the right company to deal with.



The Web as Your Guide

Yes, it can be smart to use the web as your guide for just about anything nowadays. As a consumer you can find out a lot of information to help you choose a product or service provider through the internet. Search at your leisure from the comfort of your computer without having to wait for return phone calls. Tip: Deal locally so you don't have to worry about time zones. Sure, it may seem like an overseas company is priced right but do you want to wait for return calls because they're in a different time zone? Do you want to deal with someone in the area of marketing that has no idea what it's like in your geographical area?

Find a local marketing agency that has a good online reputation. That's another great thing about the web... it tells a story. You can follow bread crumb trails that lead to professional service providers that tell you how well their work is received. Testimonials, reviews, complaints, kudos...they can all show up online. If you are hiring a marketing agency, try looking up the name of the company and / or the principals to see if they have a good online reputation. Finding a lot of information or published articles could be very telling and help make your decision about whether or not to hire them an easier one to make.

Look at Samples

Does the marketing company have an online portfolio showing website design work or other marketing collateral that they have provided to clients? Or, can they demonstrate their expertise by showing you examples or case studies of other work that they have done? This information can help you determine that you are in face dealing with an experienced company with a proven track record.

Sometimes, you'll want a phone call or a face to face meeting despite seeing everything you want to see online. Speaking voice to voice can be very telling, letting you see whether or not you've found the right person for the job of helping your company with marketing. Once you find the right marketing agency it can make a world of difference in your company's ability to succeed. It can help you focus on what you need to focus on in order to grow and boost profit.

Tuesday 1 February 2011

Three Things a Small Business Marketing Consultant Can Teach You

As a small business owner, you need the right tools to succeed and the best way to get them is to hire a small business marketing consulting company. Sure, you may have some great ideas that got your business off the ground but you need the tools to float and eventually soar. As an owner, you have multiple responsibilities. You can remove one of them by hiring a consultant to keep your company's momentum going.

A Marketing Plan
Do you have a marketing plan actually written down with actionable steps and a timeline for completion? Many small business owners do not. Luckily, a marketing consultant can help with that. You have no hope of truly succeeding if you are flying by the seat of your pants when it comes to marketing your business. Eventually, something is going to fail because you did not have a real plan.

A marketing plan creates the foundation for actionable tasks. With a plan laid out in black and white, you will know the "whys" behind each action. Plus, if you bullet point or number the actions, the plan will not seem so daunting. You can take baby steps – one action at a time – or speed things up and accomplish several things at a time. And when business slows down, you will have a plan to revisit so that you can study which steps may be the problem so you can fix it.

Business Identification
So you hung out your shingle … does anyone know you are in business? Does the public even know what product or service you are offering? A small business marketing consultant can help you create a tagline and logo, part of the branding process, which will serve as your business identification to the public. By using your business's branding elements consistently, you can be easily identified within your industry's marketplace.

Targeting your Customers
Do you know how to get your business website to pop up at the top of the list when consumers go searching for a product like yours on an internet search engine? What about relaying key messages about your product or service? Can you do that effectively? Do you know how to create a sense of urgency or present calls to action in your advertising? How do you track your advertising and promotional efforts to determine whether they are even effective? As you can see, marketing is more than just putting up a website, handing our flyers or printing up business cards.

Marketing consultants can help you design your marketing plan and put it into action. They also will create a timeline and put an implementation plan into place so you can follow it. Hiring an outside small business marketing consultant with the knowledge and experience in your chosen industry is the key to a long and fruitful enterprise.

Monday 31 January 2011

5 Marketing Companies' Secrets to Online Success


Marketing companies that help companies succeed online in a competitive market have quite a few trade secrets that help them achieve success quickly. They won't reveal everything unless you're a client but do you want to know a few of their secrets?


#1 Quality AND Quantity

Not only do you need high quality material to market with but you need a lot of it. A steady stream of fodder for search engines is good but it has to be good fodder. Your audience is insatiable as well. Provide plenty of quality information to them and you'll hold onto their attention for more than a nanosecond.


#2 Know Your Audience

Companies that take the time to understand their audience can market effectively to them. Marketing companies do research to find out what their client's customers want. That way they can appeal to them. When marketing online, people have the attention span of a gnat so it's imperative that you know how to find them, how to help them find you, and how to talk in a language they understand and want to speak.


#3 Use Effective Online Tools

There are dozens and dozens of tools that you can utilise in online marketing. Organic search engine optimisation tools, tools to help you execute an effective search engine marketing / pay per click advertising campaign, and tools to converse with your audience via social media. Marketing companies know which tools to use and how to put them to good use.

#4 Think Ahead

Not only do you need to appeal to your customers now but you'll need to stay ahead of them so you can be ready to present them with effective marketing material tomorrow, too. Timing is everything in marketing, especially online marketing. Market research, competitive analysis, and staying ahead of trends is vital.


#5 Provide Value

Marketing firms work to help clients demonstrate value. Today's consumer is very value-driven. They want to know what's in it for them and marketing companies help companies define their unique selling points and their value added proposition continually so that customers will want to do business with them. In a day and age where brand loyalty is harder to come by than ever, whatever you can do to appeal to your customers and prove you're a value-driven company will benefit you today and in the future. You'll benefit through direct sales, repeat sales, and word-of-mouth referrals, too.

Beware of Marketing Companies Making Unrealistic Promises

Marketing is a field requiring skill. It requires knowledge and savvy and other skills that not everyone has. That's why companies hire marketing companies --- to get the advantage of skills they don't have which will help them reach their goals. Sadly, too many companies are lured in by false expectations, though. Don't fall victim to this. Spot traits of marketing firms that should set off red flags for you.


Guaranteed Google Results

Be very careful about dealing with a company that promises you to rise to top spot on Google's (or MSN / Bing, Yahoo, or some other search engine) search engine results pages. Not only is it unrealistic to promise such a thing but there's no way to guarantee it. Even if you pay a heck of a lot of money and do achieve it, there are no guarantees you'll stay there. Further more, there are more important aspects of online marketing than just hitting top spot for a single phrase. Is it the right phrase? What will people find when they click on your link? Will your landing page REALLY entice them to buy?


Further more, what if the marketing companies' antics are considered grey hat or black hat? There are ways to get to the top of search engines fast but that aren't considered legal in the eyes of the search engines so your top spot could suddenly translate to being blacklisted altogether. A lot of time, effort, and investment could go down the drain.


Thousands of Visitors / Website Traffic

If you're promised a specific level of traffic to your website, you should ask the marketing company to be more specific. Not all traffic is equal. Watch for marketing companies making these promises because you'll want to know where that traffic will come from so you can determine how useful it will be to you. Expert marketing companies know how to get traffic that converts from a visitor to a buyer and that's the sort of traffic you want.


When you feel like you're being sales pitched, you probably are. Marketing companies should wow you with their results rather than just wowing you with their hype. Ask for proof, ask questions, and look for complete transparency so you can be certain you're dealing with a reputable company that uses ethical marketing techniques that will benefit your company rather than just benefiting the pockets of the company trying to "sell" you.

Use an Outside Marketing Company to Help You Navigate Social Media Outlets

The 21st century has brought a rise in popularity of social media and an outside marketing company can help you plug into this new way of advertising. The internet is an integral part of marketing these days so it is important to understand your options in reaching potential customers. You need to understand how these potential customers are able to shop, research purchases and share opinions about their experiences.


A number of social media sites provide a platform for users to voice their opinions, share content, information and recommendations about their favorite products, services and more. Your job is to reach these users so that they post favorable comments and reviews about your company's products and services. This is important; because of the internet's global market presence, many people depend on these reviews to make purchase decisions.


Understanding the Power of the Internet

You, like many other businesses, are likely finally recognizing the power of these global internet customers. By instituting the right strategies for social media marketing, you can produce higher branding recognition as well as personally engage those global customers.


A marketing company can help introduce you to these social media outlets. Instead of introducing a website and hoping that customers find you, you can promote your company's products and services through these outlets to reach your target audience. You can virtually shape and define new markets through the internet and encourage valuable feedback.


Boost Internet Search Results

Taking advantage of various social media outlets boosts your company's internet presence, specifically search engines. The more information and presence you have on the internet, the more likely your company will appear high on internet search rankings. This translates to a larger global internet presence and therefore, a higher sales margin.


Create an informational page in your company's niche and post articles. Develop a blog and post regularly to create a following. Post pictures, video clips and create business pages on the top social media sites. Hire people to post reviews and positive responses on forum boards and chat rooms to increase your internet presence. All of these things can help improve your placement on the internet.


The bottom line is that in order to compete, especially on the internet, you must get on the social media bandwagon. It is the wave of the future and if you cannot ride it on your own, hiring a marketing company is the best move you can make. They can get you started and train you on maintaining your online advertising and sales momentum.

Saturday 29 January 2011

How a Marketing Agency Can Make More Clicks Count

Are you anxious to get more clicks on your small business website? The web can kick your sales up a notch but mere traffic won't necessarily do it alone. Do you want to make sure that those clicks count? Consider getting some help from a marketing agency that is experienced in helping you to increase your conversion rate. It takes more than website traffic to make an online business site successful.

Clicks & Conversion Rates

Clicks are good. Conversion is better. In other words, all the clicks in the world won't help your business if no one buys from you. Your internet marketing strategy should encompass more than getting traffic. It should work on getting targeted traffic and then converting them from a browser into a buyer.

Developing a Marketing Strategy

Web marketing is about more than just traffic and the right strategy can help you achieve your desired results. Most entrepreneurs and small business owners have trouble doing this on their own. Running a business is time consuming and making time for marketing isn't easy. That's where getting help from a consultant can come in and make a dramatic difference.

Marketing companies can work closely with you to develop a website marketing strategy that transforms your website from a brochure into a sales tool. They can do this through a multi-faceted approach that includes some of the following attributes:

• Analysis of your existing website (if applicable). A few tweaks and adjustments could make a difference in your search engine rankings and in how our visitors react to your content.
• Research into your market. A marketing agency will look at your industry and your competitors. Business intelligence gathered will provide valuable info that could help them help you make subtle or maybe even major changes that could boost conversion and click through rates.
• Split testing. If, for example, a website re-design is warranted, split testing may be done to analyse reactions from your visitors. When tests are conducted it can be easy to see which ad or which landing page could make more sense. Results can be evident fairly quickly, allowing you to reap benefits of that redesign quickly.
• Proven marketing techniques that insert a prospect into a sales funnel. The prospect very often exits that sales funnel as a client.

A marketing agency can look at raw data and make sense of the statistics and the graphs. Their analysis could turn that data into an action plan that reaps substantial benefits in the area of getting more traffic and converting more traffic into sales. Consider talking to a consultant to find out what they can do for your business and your online success.

Marketing Companies Can Help You With Your Online Reputation Management

How's your company's online reputation? Do you even know? The results of a quick search could be startling for you. Marketing companies could specialise in this area, helping you manage and accelerate a positive online reputation.

Why is online reputation management important?
More people than ever look to the web to help them make decisions about everything from minor purchases to big ticket items. The internet provides consumers with a plethora of information to help them make decisions, such as: product specifications, user reviews, and information about where to get what they want. If your reputation isn't nurtured, one of two things will happen:

Nothing?
If you have zero reputation, people won't find you. Lack of a poor reputation is a good thing but in many cases, if they know about you and find nothing positive or negative, they'll keep looking. Many people want validation for their choice through reviews, testimonials, and an online presence that puts them at ease.

Of course no reputation is better than a poor reputation but if you're even moderately successful offline, you'll want to share that positive reputation online so that you can take advantage of it.

Lost Sales - £££
If you're not paying attention to your reputation and something negative is said about you, this could be even more damaging than something positive being said. Bad press can rise like wildfire in the search engine results for your name or your niche. You can't necessarily control the bad press but marketing companies could help you boost the good press so that it outweighs the bad press.

How Online Marketing Companies Help:
Online marketing companies can track what's being said, can optimise the good press, and help you encourage feedback from your clients. Feedback utilised online in the right way will help you show new prospects that existing and past customers are satisfied.

If something negative is said, your marketing consultancy firm could track it down quickly and do damage control, either by alerting you so that you can act on it or by optimizing proven reputation management tools so that the bad press doesn't necessarily stick out like a sore thumb.

Most companies experience at least a bit of bad press at some time or another. Smart companies learn from this and use it to help them improve weak points in their infrastructure. Marketing companies can help you gather intelligence, boost positive results, solicit testimonials, and spread good news virally so that those considering your products or services will see that you're an organisation worth doing business with.

Tuesday 27 July 2010

Marketing Companies -3 Secrets of Successful Online Marketing Companies Revealed

Marketing companies can help companies like yours succeed online regardless of your size or your industry. Quite often companies will outsource their marketing tasks, specific campaigns or even their entire marketing function to an outside organisaton either because they don’t have an in-house marketing department or because they want a specialty service. Marketing online is also an area where many companies look for specialised services as well because the internet is ever-changing and it can be difficult to keep up to date with information and strategies for success. Read on for a few secrets that help specialised marketing companies retain their advantage in this area: Content is King Content is a powerful tool online. People want information and articles can provide them with that. Articles can also help you gain strength in search engines so that you get what amounts to free traffic. If you can achieve the top organic spot for the keyword phrases your target audience is searching on, you can get a flow of traffic. Marketing companies know what those terms are for your niche and geographic area and they can help you come closer to achieving it through many techniques including content marketing. Content that contains quality is like cream that rises to the top of search engine rankings. People rank it, search engines rank it, and it will point back to your website and help you in multiple ways. Write good content that’s researched and that is search engine optimised and you will increase your chances of online success. Build Relationships with Your Audience Today’s consumer is highly savvy. They see through gimmicks and they want value. Companies that build relationships with their customers and demonstrate value will be winners. The web provides a massive amount of tools that can help you in this area. Social media, interactive websites, relationship marketing, permission marketing…. All sorts of areas exist for you to build and strengthen a bond with your customers. Analyse Results The great thing about online marketing is the fact that you can so easily analyse what is working well and what is not. Traditional 20th century marketing techniques took ages to analyse but in the 21st century, you can easily analyse results almost instantaneously. This maximises your marketing reach and minimises unnecessary costs. Successful marketing companies who use the web know that content, relationships, and analytics are three of the essential ingredients for success.