Taking it Step-by-Step - How Marketing Consultants Can Support Your Business
Companies large and small get caught up in a repeating cycle of “doing what works,” because…well, it works!
But doing the same-old things over and over again is pretty much guaranteed to get you the same-old results.
For some businesses, that’s totally fine. Plateauing is not a bad thing if consistency is what you’re after. But for companies looking to grow or transform, you must step out of that repeating cycle and start testing new strategies.
Even huge companies with massive marketing resources report that they spend nearly 70% of their time “doing what works” in a short-term focused cycle - placing the same ads, publishing on the same social calendar, the same promotions, the same website, etc.
They are focused on the short term to keep the lights on because doing something new takes more time, resources, and adds risk.
We get it. But you don’t need to bet the farm on a new marketing consultant. Just commit to investing in an effort that works for your business.
How we helped Donegan’s Tree Service break the cycle
Donegan’s Tree Service, an accredited tree care company with a five-diamond reputation, is owned by Jim and Patty Donegan. They have a real passion for tree health, excellent service, and being able to someday take a step back and retire. When I met them a few years ago, they were topped up with frustration, exhaustion, and futility. When things were slow, they were panicked. When things were busy, they were overwhelmed. But they were still making a good living. They didn’t want to take on too much risk.
Step 1: Audit
The first thing we did to help the Donegans was an audit. They are an awesome company! They are getting good leads! They are clearly doing something right. So, by looking through all of their marketing activities and efforts, we were able to identify what was working (and what wasn’t).
Step 2: Plan
After we figured out what was working (Jim is awesome, SEO, Google reviews) and what needed fixing (the logo, the website, the advertising budget), we made a plan that fit in their timeline and budget.
Step 3: Activate!
Instead of creating an entirely new, overwhelming marketing program for Jim and Patty to add to their already busy lives, we started small. We were able to take on their priority items one by one, show them how they fit together, train them on how to DIY moving forward.
At each decision point, they either decided to
take it in-house (ask for Google reviews, develop sales pitches for specialty offerings, write blogs),
decided to keep us on retainer to do it for them (sending emails and social posts, web updates, graphic design, etc.),
or hire someone to fill in on their own team (yay for Aprille!).
This step-by-step, month-by-month way of tackling the marketing helps the business owner learn, keep costs manageable, is better for expectation management, and creates a new cycle that will open the doors to new business!
Marketing isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it system. In order to grow or change, you keep repeating the auditing, planning, and activation process over and over to continually improve.
So, if you have an entire marketing system to transform, or you just need to start something new - a new email campaign, a new website, a new logo - we’re here to manage and guide you through the process, hand-in-hand, every step of the way.