Take Advantage of Free Feedback to Up Your Marketing Game
Kudos to you. Round of applause. Pat on the back for recognizing that you may need some outside help with marketing your business. It’s okay to admit it, as many others do: marketing successfully takes a lot of work, done in many different avenues, each with its own nuisances. You may have someone dedicated to these tasks, but if you’re not seeing the results you want, then getting a free marketing consultation is a great way to obtain an unbiased opinion on what may need to change.
What does a Free Marketing Consultation look like?
When you sit down for a free consultation with a marketing firm (whether in person or over video conference), they should first ask you to explain what your company does and provide some background information. Don’t spend too much time on this topic though; most free marketing consultations are about 30 minutes long and you don’t want to spend half of it talking about your business history.
What you want to focus on are the current marketing strategies your business is implementing and the data analysis showing their results. It’s a good idea to prepare for this ahead of time, so all of the analytics are in front of you and you’re not wasting precious consultation time looking things up. Make a list of each marketing tactic your company employs and the results for each over the past three to six months.
You’ll also want to share your successful marketing efforts, and your challenges. What are the marketing approaches that you’re really proud of? What are the ones that are frustrating you to no avail? If you’re a hot tub company, for example, and your tent sale flopped, that’s something to bring up. Or, if you’re a pool builder and saw a number of leads come from your new TikTok profile, share that too.
What benefits should a Free Marketing Consultation provide?
Once this information has been shared, the marketing firm you’re conferring with should ask questions. They may attempt to break down those challenging marketing strategies to see where things may have gone wrong (such as asking you how the spa tent sale was promoted). While a full analysis of your current marketing strategies won’t be possible during the consultation, the marketing firm should be able to have a basic understanding of what’s working for your company and enough information to make suggestions for additional tactics or revisions.
During this free marketing consultation, the firm should also help you to identify or hone your brand identity. This is the key element of a successful marketing strategy – the cohesive piece that brings everything together across all platforms and tactics. A brand identity goes beyond a logo; it communicates the message you’re wanting to convey about your business – your mission, what you stand for, and how to project that into the world.
Additionally, a free marketing consultation should work toward deciphering your company’s marketing goals. What are you looking to accomplish? Is brand awareness your motivation, are you looking for more leads to nurture, or do you outright need more sales immediately? Understanding your marketing goals will help a marketing firm make suggestions on where to focus your efforts moving forward.
Finally, a free consultation from a marketing firm should provide you with suggestions for next steps, and the building blocks to develop a cohesive marketing strategy for the future. Sure, this is only a 30-minute introduction to your business – and you certainly can’t cover everything or develop an entire marketing plan in such a small window of time. But a quality marketing firm will showcase what they can bring to the table by setting you up for greater success, even in just the few moments that you speak with the firm’s team. They should point out what you’re doing well, what needs improvement, what marketing techniques you should consider dipping your toes in, and what needs to be dropped.
You should walk away from a free marketing consultation not only with a better understanding of your marketing strategy, but with a motivation to give it your all – and maybe even hire some help. The best marketing firms get you excited about hiring their firm to help elevate your marketing approach, and an anticipation for success.
That’s what fuels us here at The Get Smart Group – we want you to be pumped about where your marketing strategy can go and the results you’re bound to see! We’re experts in the field, with a quality team of highly experienced marketers, adept at all different approaches and platforms. We’re thrilled by the opportunity to provide your business with a free marketing consultation – schedule one today!
