Entrepreneurs, Executives, and Business Owners
It’s time for anyone buying marketing services to take heed and become as educated as possible about the industry as a whole.
- What should you expect from your internal team?
- Do you at least have a team of one? You better get one.
- What should you expect that team to produce?
- Do you need experts or generalists?
- Where should you be spending your money and how is that best determined?
- Are your thoughts on what your marketing team and partners should be producing just setting them up for failure?
If you don’t have the answers to these questions, you better start thinking about them because you are operating in the dark.
Your assumptions as a leader have to be supported by the marketing data that is already at your disposal or you may be on the road to nowhere and throwing your money away. If your marketing initiatives are not based on facts and the data then you are more than likely throwing good money after bad.
There is a lack of trust in agency partners and the fulfillment of marketing services by agencies. And I don’t blame you!
There is a lack of transparency that runs rampant in the industry and a lack of knowledge on the client part of what they should be expecting from their marketing partners.
I educate the C-suite on what they should be expecting from their marketing teams, both internal and third party partners. I also educate the marketing teams for what they need to be doing to stay in the know within our space and what to look for and expect from third party marketing service providers.
It is all about education and constant learning which is lacking in our industry.
The transparent, up-to-date and true marketing partners need to be promoted and excel. Not all of them know how to differentiate themselves since there is no-one leading the charge to educate and set the bar for expectations. That is about to change and I hope I empower those marketers that are at the top of their game to begin talking about their strengths and what makes them special within our industry.
Our industry is data driven. Marketers and marketing teams should expect certain things from their marketing partners. The story and results are in the data. If you have neither then we need to talk.
- They should expect full transparency for what is being provided versus what is being charged.
- They should expect full transparency for what additional services are going to cost moving forward and how those services are priced.
- They should expect to have full ownership of all accounts that are tied directly to their website or paid marketing activities.
- They should expect an entire strategy laid out before kicking-off campaigns, and that strategy should be tied directly to the marketing and overall business performance objectives.
- They should expect what work is being performed and when.
- They should expect to be able to see the data being measured and how tactics are being measured to make sure growth is occurring and progress towards results is being achieved.
- They should expect to have a partner willing to educate them on the space and why what is being executed is necessary.
- They should expect a broad experience from their partner leadership in both business management and leadership and marketing management and leadership. Marketing does not sit in a bubble, and a partner that understands how marketing fits into the overall business structure and the role it plays in the business meeting performance expectations is critical.
- They should expect a true partner that understands their business challenges, their marketing challenges and is an extension of their team.