Why Outsourcing Marketing Support Often Doesn't Work (And How to Make Sure it Does for You)

by Judy Murdoch

Published on this site: July 3rd, 2006 - See more articles from this month

Once upon a time, not so long ago, a small but growing software company hired a marketing consultant to help them with their ecommerce business. The marketing consultant said to them, "If you give me $10,000" I will bring you all the customers you could ever wish for." So with high hopes, the company owner gave the consultant $10,000 and waited for the promised customers to come. The consultant would visit and bring wise men and women along who would ask the business owner and his employees lots of questions and to fill out many forms. Two months passed and the company received a long report filled with phrases such as "adopter categories", "Paid inclusion", "proactive CRM process", and so on. The company owner called the marketing consultant and asked, "Now what?"

"Just follow our recommendation," said the consultant.

Thinking he had somehow missed something important, the owner, his business partner, and their part-time programmer read the report very carefully looking for all traces of the recommended plan of action. Still they found nothing they could use.

Again the business owner called the consultant. "The only recommendations we found were six bullet points on page 14 and one of those bullet points wasn't even a real sentence."

"We have helped hundreds of businesses like yours become millionaires many times over," replied the consultant. "If you need more support we would be more than happy to help with our six-month implementation plan."

"What does that involve?" asked the owner.

"We use a dynamic and proactive CRM process that guarantees targeted eyeballs using multiple streaming channels and viral e-services, providing the best ROI on your investment"

"What does it cost?" asked the owner

"$50,000." answered the consultant.

"$10,000 was our marketing budget for the year."

"Perhaps next year then," said the marketing consultant.

Needless to say the promised customers never did appear. The software company made it through the year. Barely. Needless to say, the owner is now extremely gun shy of hiring anyone to help with their marketing even though he readily admits he needs help.

This story, while extreme, is unfortunately more the rule than the exception. It is not that marketing support companies are hucksters who out to exchange a little jargon and magic dust for your hard-earned money. But good intentions and a toolkit of marketing tactics are often not enough for truly effective marketing.

The 5 most common reasons marketing support doesn't work are:

1. Reason: Vague steps for implementation.
   
   Would you pay a golf pro $100 an hour if the advice you received was along the lines of "Just take the club and hit the ball as hard as you can." Yet it's not at all unusual to get advice like "Go to lots of networking events where you can meet prospective customers." Unless you are one of the rare persons who is gifted with the skills and intuition for consistently turning casual meetings into customer relationships, trying to follow vague advice will leave you feeling inept and burned out.
   
   
2. Reason : Steps for implementation are way too big.
   
   Even if it is specific, when steps are too large, we don't do them. For example, the goal "create three product descriptions for my web site" may seem pretty specific for many of you. Then why is it that there are so many unfinished websites out there? Because some of us need to take really small steps. Baby steps to make progress. A manageable step for some of us might be more like "list five things customers should know about my product."
   
   
3. Reason : Taking a "one size fits all" approach.
   
   Marketing and sales are the way you connect with and ultimately forge a relationship with your customers. If your message comes across as bland and impersonal-like something anyone in your industry could say-you aren't giving people a compelling reason to do business with you. You want a marketing support partner who "gets" your business and makes sure that your unique voice comes through loud and clear to your customers.
   
   
4. Reason : Mistaking tactics for marketing.
   
   Creating a brochure is not marketing. Nor is a website, an advertisement, or a direct mail letter. These are all marketing tools. They are methods-tactics, if you prefer-that you use to connect with prospective customers. Tactics need to work together to support your marketing strategy and objectives. You and your marketing support partner need to have a solid understanding of what your customers need, the unique solutions you offer, and the market in which you compete. Without this foundation you're basically taking shots in the dark.
   
   
5. Reason : Failing to set benchmarks and track progress.
   
   In my book, marketing, especially small business marketing is about results. By results I mean more ideal customers, more referrals, a higher percentage of visitors who buy something from your website, etc. If you're not getting measurable results from your marketing, you are throwing away your money. You want to work with someone who insists that you develop and set measurable objectives by which you measure the effectiveness of your marketing.

Judy Murdoch helps small business owners create low-cost, effective marketing campaigns using word-of-mouth referrals, guerrilla marketing activities, and selected strategic alliances. To download a free copy of the workbook, "Where Does it Hurt? Marketing Solutions to the problems that Drive Your Customers Crazy!" go to http://www.judymurdoch.com/workbook.htm
You can contact Judy at 303-475-2015 or [email protected]