Welcome to a new year; a fresh start for you and your business. In order to kick 2020 off with a bang, you may be thinking of engaging a marketing company to look after your business’ digital presence.
First of all – excellent decision! A professional and experienced marketing company can help take your business from simply getting by, to being recognised as one of the best builders in your local area. Ideally, this will translate into a constant flow of high-quality leads.
By the same token, an inexperienced or unqualified marketing company may have a damaging impact on your business. This can give potential clients a negative view of your company and hugely reduce your flow of qualified leads.
This is the danger of cheap imitations
It’s so important to do your due diligence when looking for a marketing partner. Think about it – you wouldn’t want a client to choose the most popular builder on Instagram or someone who appears to be a celebrity in the industry without doing their research first. Similarly, you should never choose a marketing company purely because they’re a popular choice or seem to be an Instagram influencer.
Popularity doesn’t always equal success…
The rise of digital marketing has seen social media in particular become inexpensive and accessible to everyone in the marketplace. This means almost anyone can act as a marketing professional, setting up advertising campaigns, creating social media content and pushing out blogs and Stories for you. The issue here is that inexperienced or cheap imitations may create content that is riddled with spelling errors, plagiarises other work or that targets an audience that doesn’t suit your client base.
So, how do you know if you’ve found the real thing or not?
Much like when clients are looking for a good quality builder, there are signs to look for and questions to ask when you’re on the hunt for a top-quality marketing company. Here are a few to keep in mind…
1. Do they practice what they preach?
Does the marketing company you’re looking at have a clear social media strategy? A monthly newsletter? Regular blogs? You should always seek out a business who practices what they preach – odds are if they’re doing it, it works. And a company that doesn’t listen to their own advice is probably not the kind of company you want to be working with.
2. Speak to past clients
It’s so important to get in touch with past clients and hear about their real experience with the company you’re thinking of engaging. When you’re chatting to them be sure to ask things like: what were your results? What was the customer experience like? Would you recommend them? Make sure you visit their website and explore testimonials and case studies to get the best picture of the business you can.
3. Are they professional and qualified?
While it’s great to support a start-up, when it comes to your life’s work you want to make sure it’s in safe hands. That’s why it’s important to engage a marketing company who has many years’ experience in the industry. This means they’ll have a sound track record in dealing with the frequent changes of the marketing industry.
Make sure they’re professional as well – this means their spelling and grammar are on point at all times (there’s nothing more embarrassing than a user commenting with the correct spelling on a social media post!).
They should also respond to emails promptly (within 48 hours) and be accessible for phone calls and video meetings when necessary. The beauty of the digital world is that your marketing company can be based anywhere in the world and still provide an expert, high-quality user experience for you.
4. Influencers are not marketers
While it can be easy for an influencer to pass themself off as a marketer, beware – they may just be very good at gaining (or buying) followers. You should look beyond the number of likes and followers they have, and assess the quality of their work, their marketing qualifications, years of industry experience and the professionalism of their service before making any decisions.
At the end of the day, video views and Instagram followers are useless unless the entire marketing machine is working for you. Anyone can get likes on a post. Whether the phone is ringing, well that’s a true measure of a good marketer.
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At Sea Salt Marketing, we have over 15 years’ experience in the marketing industry. We take the time to get to know your business, anticipate your needs and become part of your team. Start 2020 on the right track – get in touch with Amanda and the team today and find out why builders choose Sea Salt.
