Things Your Marketing Consultant Should Be Thinking About

14 Nov

Marketing Consultants or Marketing Managers are being kept on their feet these days with changes in technology, the economy, corporate responsiblity and the new green ethos that surrounds most businesses large and small.

When looking at a company, whether it is large or small, it is imperative that marketing consultants (or marketing managers) are across all areas of marketing. It's no longer about the 4P's as most Gen-X marketers who now hold the senior positions in marketing have trained on, and more about social media, customer interaction, mobile marketing, podcasts, blogs, online marketing, guerilla marketing, slideshare and of course word of mouth marketing.

While marketers have pushed boundaries working with their technology counterparts, there is still many marketing consultants that are left in the dark or that are spending far too much time working and not enough time educating themselves on the latest marketing techniques.

In 2012, remind your marketing consultant (or marketing manager) that as a business you need to connect with your customers in a more meaningful way.

EXPLORE:

1. PODCASTS FOR CLIENTS: Podcasts are great as they allow for your customers to watch and listen in their own time rather than on a set time frame that may elude them from business critical information.
2. PODCASTS FOR EMPLOYEES: Don't forget the power of communicating with your team and continually upskilling them on what is happening in the market and ways in which they can better connect with customers, with your brand and with you.
3. STAR IN YOUR OWN WEBINAR: Forget about the expensive seminars of yesterday and start putting together a webinar series. Promote it through emarketing, your newsletter, on your website and in an public forum that you have access to.
4. SOCIAL MEDIA: If you have not signed up for Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube - drop everything and do it now. While you are at it, sign up for Google and get your social media strategy under way. You cannot afford to put this to the way-side any longer. Social Media is here to stay.
5. MAKE A VIDEO: Explain what your unique selling proposition is, how you have benefited your clients, what clients can expect from your company and be a thought leader. Then stream this video on all social media networks, on your blog, on your website and on youtube.
6. PROXIMITY MARKETING: Sabbotage the next event that you exhibit at by hiring a Spidanet system and bluetooth and wifi coupons, video, landing pages and more to every single delegate. This medium is not used enough and now is the time to take advantage of the fact that most people in business have smart phones that are "ON" ready for you to send messages on why they should use your service or product. If you are a retailer, this is a no-brainer for an instore promotion. A US company made an additional $1 million dollars after using a proximity marketing platform to promote a sale that they were having.
7. GUERILLA MARKETING: Be creative, be bespoke, create a frenzy. Need I say more?
8. WORD OF MOUTH MARKETING: Now this isn't as easy as you think. If you are launching a new product, test it on people that will write about it, tweet it, facebook it, blog about it, video their experience, share their experience with otehrs and talk, talk, talk... BUT you need to teach them how to do this first.
9. SEO CHECKLIST: If you are investing heavily in SEO, then do a stocktake. Is it working for you? Can you do it better? Is Adwords worth it's weight in gold or has your adword account just cost you money with no significant ROI?
10. PR: Easy, inexpensive, effective.

Marketing Consultants tend to be good at certain things, but not all things. Give your Marketing Consultant a friendly reminder on these 10 items and I promise your marketing strategy for 2012 will be stronger, more efficient and more effective.

Happy Marketing!