Thursday, August 30, 2007
Marketing Experts
Everyone Wants to be an Expert!
expert : ex·pert (ek'sp?rt')
n.
- A person with a high degree of skill in or knowledge of a certain subject.
As I visit local area businesses in Bowling Green and south central Kentucky, people talk about marketing consultants and advertising representatives at length. Many who read this blog have assumed that I’m some kind of consultant or ad agency, I quickly correct them and explain that I am simply sharing my experience and opinion.
Fact be known, I do offer advice and opinion to local businesses when asked or when the topic comes up, but I do not get paid for it. Sure, I’ve written about advertising, marketing and public relations at length here on this and other blogs, but I am not a paid consultant by any stretch of the imagination.
I did toy with the idea and put together a business concept called Soky Solutions with a very good friend of mine, but due to professional career changes by my friend, we never started the company. I do have a vision, but it would be expensive and complicated and there are enough self proclaimed experts out there already.
This issue was raised recently by a very good friend of mine who publishes a local area phone book. He went on a rant about unqualified individuals who hang a shingle as a marketing and advertising consultant or “expert.” He went on at length about a few people out there who have never owned their own business nor have they ever purchased advertising for themselves. He feels that many of the so called experts out there are woefully unqualified to represent small businesses because they don’t have the experience much less the expertise to do so. I tend to agree.
There appears to be a number of people around who claim to be marketing experts which begs the question, “What makes a marketing expert?” Is it someone who achieved a college degree? Or is it someone who used to be an advertising sales person for one of the area media outlets? Apparently, it takes very little for someone to proclaim to be a marketing expert which once again puts the burden on the small business person to do some due diligence when deciding to trust someone else to handle their marketing dollars.
Some small business people feel overwhelmed with the vast number of advertising representatives who call on them while they are trying to conduct business. Many get frustrated and refuse to listen to opportunities offered, or they are afraid of being “sold” something that may or may not work. I’ve heard a few people say that they wish there was a way to “filter” all of the media reps so they can quickly and intelligently make a decision as to the best method.
The concept of having a qualified person or company to take care of selecting the right media outlets and implementation of a marketing strategy is not so farfetched. It is basically a good idea if you can afford it and if you have found that right person or agency.
The cost: Frankly, it doesn’t surprise me that retaining a good and qualified ad agency is expensive. It should be. The time required to represent a small business, establish a good strategy and then to implement it is exorbitant. That’s why you hired them in the first place. If they are truly taking the time to consider your best interest, then it is and should be expensive.
When my friend and I were brainstorming for the agency, I told him that all clients should be willing to pay a monthly stipend based on the amount of work they expected from us. This price ranged from $500 to $5,000 depending on the needs of the client and their expectations from us. He pushed back and said that small businesses couldn’t afford to pay monthly agency fees as well as pay for advertising to which I replied, “then we need to find the companies who can afford it then don’t we.”
When we considered offering marketing services to outside clients I explained to my friend that we need to do some serious research. We need to find out traffic patterns, demographics, psychographics, as well as negotiated rates with all of the advertising outlets in the market. I said we had about 6 months of real research to perform so when someone entrusted us to answer their questions, we would know the answers.
Some business models for ad agencies don’t expect a monthly fee if you’re spending enough money on advertising. The reason for this is they get a discount from the media outlet and that is their compensation. I don’t agree with this concept for a number of reasons. Typically, people are loyal to those who write the checks. If their income comes from the media instead of the client, then who are they really working for? Another reason I don’t like this concept is the lack of disclosure. How much are these guys actually making? And how much could I be saving if I were doing it myself? These are just a couple of the questions that burn in the mind and tend to tear down good working relationships.
I think that the business should be willing to pay the consultant, but the consultant should be good enough to show savings in excess of what they are being paid. If you were paying me $5,000 per month to take care of your advertising and I showed you that I was able to negotiate discounts resulting in savings on media buys that exceeded that amount, you would actually be saving money by paying me but more importantly, you would have full disclosure and confidence in your decision to retain me. (I use “me” as an example... again, I’m not an ad agency nor a consultant.)
I have seen a couple small businesses in the area who have made the decision to hire a full time marketing person. This is a good concept because it allows the small business person a level of control that is not possible when hiring an agency. The limitation however, is that all of the money spent on the salary is for that one person. When spending the same amount with a good agency, you will retain the skills of graphics, copyrighters, public relations and communication specialists instead of one “affordable” member of staff.
The bottom line is to get to know who your “expert” is. What have they done? Has their experience and background made their clients money? Saved their clients money? Do they even have clients? (grin)
In the end, it comes back to making an informed and intelligent decision, and only one person can make it, you the small business owner. Ask questions and by all means, get references! Call the references and interview the clients. It’s the least you can do when you are considering entrusting someone to spend your money. Choosing wisely can be the best thing that ever happens to your business because it will grow and you will make more money; choosing poorly will waste time, money and cause more work than had you not considered hiring that expert in the first place.
Labels: marketing, planning, small business
