Is your firm's marketing the real deal, or the peddle car version?
Marketing is a key differentiator between good firms and great firms, and yet, most firms make getting it a low priority or think a few shiny objects will lift them from good to great. Too many firms, especially professional services firms, spend tons of money on consultants and marketing, only to see meager results.The biggest reason is firm leadership looks for improvement in the wrong place. A lot more marketing underperforms due to strategic misalignment, than the lack website or campaign technology. Getting the tactical activities right is impossible without nailing the Big Picture. Said another way, words and execution are important, but ideas matter more.
Marketing has as many myths as golf or baseball. Here are four persistent myths about marketing that need busting.
You want this to be true. Your clients tell you your firm is better than all the others. They *say* they'll make referrals. Unless you're beating off new clients with a stick, maybe a reputation for great work isn't all the marketing you need. A reputation for great work is a powerful part of effective business development, but only if the right people know how what you do benefits their business.
No they're not. Great marketing plans are focused and efficient. They're simple, but reach across a number of roles. At their core, high-end professional relationships are personal. These take a lot of time. Complicated and expensive marketing plans waste money--and the one resource that is even more valuable: time. Technology provides a lot of great tools, but technology tools are servants that easily turn into self-serving masters. Technology--well, everything you do--should be tightly focused. Rifles, not shotguns. Certainly not "spray and pray."
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It would be great if you could set up a web site and sit back while clients found you. At the core, that's what a lot of "marketing consultants" promise. Your web site is very important, however, potential clients don't all use websites the same way. If you don't know how your potential clients use your web site, you will drop a lot of money without getting the results you counted on. What's the ROI on an investment that never goes live?
Some businesses find clients online. That's one type of web site. For firms built around deep technical expertise, focusing on lead conversion typically pays bigger dividends than generating higher awareness. A different goal calls for a different type of web site.
I often have potential clients tell me, "We need a new web site." They're often shocked by my response, "Why? What are you trying to accomplish?" That's not to say they don't need a new web site, but we accomplish so much more when the cart comes after the horse.
Not all clients are the same, so there's no magic formula to create a great marketing and business development strategy for your company. Yes, a good process will help you fit together the building blocks, but the priority, focus, and content of a firm's marketing plan will vary even between similar firms in the same market. Even high-end professional firms full of Ph.Ds can only do a handful of initiatives with excellence, so it's critical to focus on the right initiatives for that firm and it's intended clients.
Trying to do too many things results in mediocrity across all activities. Great marketing focuses on why your firm is the best choice for a targeted set of clients. The list of actual selection criteria that truly matter to your ideal clients is a lot shorter than you think.
The really ironic part is that many professional firms think copying what other firms do successfully is a way to reduce risk. If everyone else is doing the same things, how risky can it be? In truth, it's more risky (riskier to you grammarians). Professional services are an intangible offering. When firms sound alike, potential clients treat them as commodities. When potential clients see you as a commodity, you're no longer an elite professional in their eyes.
Talking about how your firm is "different" is a best practice leading you to a dead end. It shifts your focus away from how your firm benefits your client's business.
Realizing that marketing is more than doing great work, that the best marketing is clear and focused, that you should design your website last not first, and that copy-cat marketing leads to mediocrity does more than improve your tactical marketing. Busting these myths helps firm leadership see the power of thinking about the business development process strategically. Thinking strategically makes it clear how every part of an organization both contributes to and benefits from great marketing.
Great marketing does more than generate more sales leads. Great marketing builds a better overall business. If you want to upgrade from good firm to great firm, you have to bust some marketing myths.
