In our experience, the moment you begin talk about investing in a new marketing strategy, when dealing with decision makers, their first thought is, “Can we really afford it?”. This is invariably followed by “How do we know this money is returning?”
I believe that therein lies the problem. This is far from being a criticism – it’s human nature and it’s especially the case if the owner of the plumbers is so busy fixing boilers that they don’t have the mental headspace to even consider the arguments clearly. After all, if you invest in a salesperson for example, they’d better, or in the medium term at least, start to cover their costs, right? Well that’s the incorrect association that most brands make when it comes to marketing really. (Yes you are a brand whether you know it or not.)
The overall benefits of raising awareness, acquiring leads, developing researched data about your sales environment, getting true customer feedback, reviews, testimonials and positioning your brand as a voice of authority in your field are often immeasurable!!. But let’s be clear before you call us, they require a psychological commitment from you in the first instance – a commitment to change your life really. It should be part of your business strategy from the beginning and take some of your time up on a mini but regular basis.
According to Content Marketing Institute’s “2019 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends” report, changes to SEO/search algorithms is the top content marketing issue of importance to organisations (61%), followed by changes in social media algorithms (45%), and content marketing as a revenue centre (41%). How does this compare with your experience as the reader?
When B2B marketers were asked to rate their organisation’s overall level of content marketing success (all respondents), 22% responding with minimally successfully or less. As someone who works everyday to enhance both our brand and the brands of our clients, I see this disconnect all the time. Maybe it’s because you think only of big companies as being worthy of such marketing? Well, that’s where you are missing a trick – Even McDonald’s, despite having restaurants on seemingly every corner, spends millions on advertising every day to enter your human mindset. They do it and you should do because it makes commercial sense and can help deliver the lifestyle you perhaps deserve – with a little work and commitment from you.
