From the global pandemic to civil unrest to the murderous hornets that never seemed to materialize, it seems the world’s gone crazy. And while there is no doubt the last few months have had a staggering impact on the economy, there are bright spots. Recent economic data in the U.S. shows the economy is poised for a comeback, although “business as normal” may have a new “normal”.

For communication technology providers and resellers, there is a tremendous opportunity to help customers navigate the new landscape.

Changes in the way the world does business calls for new infrastructure and services to support a distributed and remote workforce, provide for crisis management and business continuity, adapt to operational and supply chain issues, as well as comply with new regulations.

Seizing the opportunity to grow your customer base or sell new products to existing customers requires providers and resellers to also change their own approach to sales and marketing. Jumping on a plane for a face-to-face meeting with a potential customer or meeting new prospects at a tradeshow are no longer viable strategies. Marketing, in particular digital marketing, is now more important than ever.

If you don’t already have a fully staffed in-house marketing team then hiring a consultant or digital agency may be your best bet to be able to execute quickly, efficiently and with the greatest chance of success. Just as your customers look to you as the experts in the technology you provide, why not leave marketing to the pros and concentrate on your own core business?

A consultant can fill in the gaps in skillsets you may be lacking or to augment your team when you need to quickly launch a new product or service, or change the way you execute.

Consultants can also bring experience and ideas from other businesses like yours and other industries which can be important when your competitive landscape is changing, or you need to market within a new paradigm such as increasing your online presence or holding virtual events.

Like you, marketing consultants are experts in their domain and up to date on the latest platforms, strategies, and techniques for delivering your message and attracting new leads.

Here are just a few of the things a marketing consultant can help you with:

  • launching a new product or service
  • establishing or augmenting a social media marketing program
  • developing high-quality content which is key to digital marketing
  • revamping your website
  • conducting customer or market surveys
  • managing your exhibition at a virtual event.

If you are unsure of what you need to kick-start your marketing or attract new leads, a consultant can audit your current marketing presence and assets, work with you to establish goals and develop a recommended plan to meet your objectives and your budget.

Not sure how to go about hiring a marketing consultant or agency? Here are some factors to consider when choosing one.

Look for someone with expertise in your domain. This is especially true in highly specialized fields such as communications technology. You don’t want to have to spend a lot of your time educating someone on the pros and cons of a SaaS versus premise-offering or what, if any, the effect the adoption of 5G has on your products.

Just as any good salesperson makes the effort to do some research before meeting with a prospect, expect no less of a marketing consultant. A good consultant should be able to ascertain some things about your business fairly quickly with little to no input from you. What business you are in, your current main messages and value prop (or lack of a well-defined one), likely competitors and your social media presence are a few factors someone who has done their homework will know. What they may not know is which competitors you actually come up against, your future plans or business changes and internal obstacles you may be facing.

A word of caution here: do not expect a free in-depth assessment of your marketing program or you will get what you pay for. Good consultants know the value of their time. Those that do offer a free assessment may give you one that is automatically skewed toward the services they want to sell you.

Ask how results will be measured and when and how often they will be reported. This is also a good time for the consultant to learn about any tools you may already have in place. Ensure that the consultant has experience on critical platforms you are currently using such as Google Analytics, your CRM platform and any marketing automation you may have invested in.

Set a budget and agree on deliverables. Keep in mind that no marketer can guarantee your results. Nobody but Google can get you on the first page of search results. Nobody can guarantee that a piece of content will go viral, that you will have a 50x increase in followers or that leads turn into sales. However, together you can set reasonable objectives and a method of measurement. Through timely measurement and analysis changes can be made to increase your success rate.

Finally, ask for a proposal to meet the objectives and budget you have discussed. If the proposal is not exactly what you are looking for it can always be adjusted in terms of scope to meet your needs and put you on a path to securing new leads and revenues as soon as possible.

Ready to kick-start your post-COVID marketing plan? Town Crier can help. Give us a call at 214-732-7770, email tracy@towncriergroup.com or visit www.towncriergroup.com.