How to Get the Most Out of Your Marketing Team

Getting the most out of your marketing team is important when justifying the expense of outsourcing.  I have met a number of small business owners that tell me they've tried to outsource their marketing tasks but haven't had luck working with marketing professionals.  I commonly hear from people that they have hired either a marketing agency or a freelancer and haven't had a good experience.  They tell me things like: "they weren't doing a good job",  "business wasn't growing" or "I get better results when I do it myself."Depending on who you choose to work with, all of these things could very well be true, but sometimes, as the owner you may be a playing a bigger role in your lack of marketing success than you think!  I have found with just a little client support, I can help small business owners get the most from their marketing team.  The key is knowing what to ask for and how to ask for it!1.  Be PreparedIf you want to be successful in outsourcing your marketing tasks to someone, you first need to take some time to prepare yourself.  Give some thought as to what areas you really lack knowledge in when it comes to marketing.  Maybe you are good at managing your social media presence, but aren't so good at placing advertising.  If that's the case, you should continue to manage your social media and then hire a media buyer to help you place advertising.  Understand what you need help with, before you ask for it and then find a marketing person that can round out your skill set.2.  Have a Budget  Whether it is $50 or $50,000, have a budget in mind.  A marketing team will not be able to help you if they don't know what they are working with.  As a marketing professional, I can put together the best marketing strategy in the world for you, but if you don't have the budget to implement it, it's useless so have an idea of what you can spend.  Without a budget, you are setting your marketing person up to struggle.3.  Set GoalsOne of the biggest mistakes I see clients make is not setting goals.  I can post to Facebook for you all day but if you don't have a goal in mind as to what you want those posts to achieve you are wasting money and setting your marketing person up to fail.  If you want to get the most out of a marketing team, set measurable goals and be clear about what they are from the very beginning.4.  Respond in a Timely MannerWhen you are working with a marketing team, you can't just "set it and forget it" as Ron Popeil from that old infomercial used to say!  If your marketing team emails you with questions, get back to them in a timely manner.  They may have a time sensitive opportunity or question that needs to be addressed.  Even though you are outsourcing, you still need to play an active role in your company's marketing strategy in order for it to work.  You are the person at the heart of the business and you will know best when something is working and when something is not.  Also, if your marketing person relies on email as their primary means of communication (which many of us do) but email doesn't work for you, request a phone call.5.  Communicate RegularlyTo piggy back off #4, you may have to tell your marketing team how to best communicate with you and you need to find time to talk with them regularly.  If you can not make time to communicate regularly with your marketing team, you are setting them up to not perform well for you.  They need to know what is going on with your business in order to help you improve it.If you are currently working with a marketing agency and feel you are not getting what you need from them, contact me.  I can function as an extension of your team and help you navigate the projects you are working on with your existing marketing team.  If your team still isn't getting the job done, I can introduce you to my team and see how we can help!