As a new business owner, time management can be a real struggle. After all, you wear many hats -- from accountant to human resources to marketer.
While you might think your company’s marketing can go on the backburner, even when you are generating plenty of business, you might want to think twice before doing so. Here is why...
Marketing and Sales: Not the Same
New business owners make the mistake of confusing marketing and sales as the same. They are not.
Sales and marketing have two distinct functions, says the Benedictine University. Furthermore, one drives the other. After all, sound marketing is what encourages more sales for your business. Sales are essential for your company’s growth. Marketing is the rollout lead that makes your business gain momentum and keep it.
No Time for Marketing? Find Local Support
Delegating the task of marketing to a professional might be worth your while, especially when you are struggling with time management. Because marketing is critical for your business, finding a third party to handle all aspects of marketing leaves one less item on your to-do list.
A few things a marketer could do for your business include:
- Advertisements
- Customer support
- Market research
- Social media and email marketing
- Public relations
- Sales strategies
- Website and internet marketing
For businesses that belong to a franchise, most are fortunate enough to have a marketing team at the corporate office to assist their franchisees with the above list of tasks. For independent business owners, however, finding a good marketing team that fits takes time and research.
Finding a marketing company is easy today, but choosing the right one is more complicated. There are hundreds of marketers offering services – and many do not have to live in the same city to still provide excellent marketing support.
With so many marketers floating in this vast arena, it could be like jumping into a ball-pit to look for a watch -- not easy.
3 Tips for Picking the Right Marketing Support
- Reputation - A company with a solid reputation and several years of experience is best. See what other businesses they have represented in the past, and look to see how those clients are doing now.
- Content - Read the substance of the marketer’s website. If it is catchy, inviting, and true to their brand, that is a good start. When the content is generic, outdated, or looks like a robot quickly sputtered it out, what content would that company provide you?
- Services - You want a full-service marketer. Even if you do not use all services now, having the option to add additional marketing services on later through the same company is important.
