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If you're a business owner you will eventually get to the point where your question changes from, "Do I really need marketing help?" to "How do I find marketing help and who's the best?" Here's what to consider when trying to answer that.
1) The Work. Many marketing experts are personable, persuasive people who don't necessarily
have the work, experience, or talent to back it up. Therefore, it's critical to spend few minutes
on their website to view the work. If it's not impressive move on, no matter how nice they are.
2) Credentials and Experience. Since professional history is always important, a bio should be on
the website and it should be impressive. Though someone with direct experience in your niche is
nice, it's less important than overall experience and professional pedigree.
3) Results. Ultimately, it comes down to this. Do they have impressive, believable testimonials?
Do they include case studies? A few, or a bunch? Do they talk about results?
4) How well do they market themselves? If anyone should be good at their own marketing it should be the marketing firm you're considering. So, if it's unimpressive, don't buy their excuses. There's no excuse for any marketing firm not to be a great example of great marketing.
5) G-Cred. (Google Credibility) is what shows up when you "Google" something, or someone. It's
an easy, important litmus test of any marketing service or person. Want to test it? Google "Follis marketing"
6) Do they know Social Media? And, more importantly, are they on top of it? Do they have a
great blog, podcast, Facebook brand page, video page on YouTube, Twitter account, etc?
7) Awards. Have they won many? Any?
8) Press. Press-worthy work is a fabulous, free, added benefit for you, the client. So, have they
gotten any? And, if so, are we talking the local small-town paper or The New York Times?
9) Are they a respected thought leader? Have they been published? Do they give talks? Have
they been interviewed? Are they profiled on Wikipedia?
10) Do they make it easy to work together? Spending money for marketing help can be a scary
proposition for a small business owner, especially for the first time. So, have they developed
a way that makes it less scary to get started and test the waters?
11) Passion. This is one of the most important, yet most overlooked, items on the list. If you're
passionate about your business don't you want to work with someone equally passionate
about theirs? It makes a difference. (See: "The Power of Passion")
Bottom line: If you want the best marketing results, get the best help. This will help you do that.
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John Follis heads up a marketing and advertising agency follisinc.com, authors a blog: TheFollisReport.com, and hosts a podcast: TheMarketingShow.net. He is also a nationally published writer and requested speaker. And, for businesses with limited budgets who need marketing help, he created this: Marketing Therapy
(c) 2009 John Follis. All rights reserved.
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