Just Writing a Check for Marketing Won’t Grow Your Business

If you pay it, they will come… right? 

I’ve seen many con­trac­tors over the years write hefty checks to print pub­li­ca­tions, spe­cial­ized inter­net mar­ket­ing ven­dors, and even me in the hopes that just by writ­ing the check and step­ping back, the leads will come and change their business.  I’ve seen the sce­nario above play out many times — I’ve even had a few past cus­tomers hire me as a mar­ket­ing man­ag­er, for exam­ple, and then dis­con­nect so I can ​“work my mag­ic.” I have learned a lot since start­ing my own busi­ness in 2009, and have grown a bit wis­er over the years in regard to how I view con­trac­tors and the way they spend their hard-earned mar­ket­ing dol­lars. I’m also the first to tell you that mar­ket­ing isn’t mag­ic. In all hon­esty, I have since stopped work­ing with com­pa­nies who are dis­con­nect­ed from the over­all mar­ket­ing plan we devel­op. I know it won’t be suc­cess­ful when a com­pa­ny just set­tles for the ​“spray and pray” method, throw­ing dol­lars at an ini­tia­tive and hop­ing some­thing sticks and pays off.

Sim­ply Writ­ing a Check Is Nev­er Enough

Mar­ket­ing is a vital part of one’s busi­ness. It is the very lifeblood that either gives you an awe­some rep­u­ta­tion, or just the oppo­site. And mar­ket­ing, when it’s done right and effec­tive­ly, MUST be a team effort. This does­n’t mean the own­er of a con­tract­ing busi­ness needs to be heav­i­ly involved with mar­ket­ing (after all, I’m often hired to help save them time!). The own­er does, how­ev­er, need to know how impor­tant mar­ket­ing is to grow the busi­ness, and make sure his or her com­pa­ny sees it as being just as impor­tant as their dai­ly work on the job site. Each check you write for mar­ket­ing should be part of an over­all plan and strat­e­gy. When your phone rings, espe­cial­ly in the slow sea­son, don’t be quick to sign up for a new mar­ket­ing tool, plan, or pack­age (“sign up today and watch the leads pour in!”). In most cas­es, they’re a shiny lure and will dis­tract you from your real plan.

What’s the Take­away for 2019?

This is a reminder that as we entire into anoth­er year in busi­ness, you need to make sure your entire team is aware of your com­pa­ny’s mar­ket­ing strat­e­gy. To get an idea of what this kind of con­sis­tent, unit­ed plan­ning can look like, I wel­come the office staff, oper­a­tions, and sales staff to sit in on my mar­ket­ing calls with clients. I have even gone a step fur­ther and done short webi­na­rs for the field employ­ees so they are aware of why we mar­ket the way we do. Every­body needs to be in on the plan and goals to make the plan be just as effec­tive as possible.