Over the past 20+ years in Marketing I have had the opportunity to work with many Business Owners, Managers and Directors on their marketing. Many a meeting has been convened with the purpose of determining the core needs of marketing their business. To that end, I have provided some context to the answers I hear when discussing marketing with potential clients.
What they say:
I need help with Branding
What they mean:
- I need advertising, marketing and promotional ideas
- My biz card sucks
- Nobody knows who we are or what we stand for
What they say:
I need help with Sales
What they mean:
- Help me set up an online storefront
- We have never gotten a lead from our website
- Update this Flyer/PDF/One Pager
- Let’s run a contest or promotion
- When is the best time to send an email?
What they say:
I need help with my Social Media
What they mean:
- I want to do Social Media but I don’t know what to say
- Fix my Facebook, Line up my LinkedIn and grab Google My Business
- I need Social Graphics – Videos and Animations would be nice
- My: kids/intern/nephews/sales team/assistant/hairdresser told me I needed to get on Social Media
- Let’s trial run some ads
What they say:
I need help with my Website
What they mean:
- My website sucks
- Why isn’t my company coming up on Google?
- I haven’t spent any money on my site in years and don’t think I have ever seen a nickel come from it.
- Just a quick update, swap some photos…
- Responsive and Mobile Friendly?
What they say:
I need some insight and research
What they mean:
- Pretty sure we have Google Analytics hooked up
- I want to know how much people are willing to pay for my product/service
- How much does my competition spend on marketing?
- Got any of them there funnels?
What they say:
I need some Video and new Photos
What they mean:
- Ugh, nobody here likes the photos on our website
- How much for Head Shots, Office/Location Shots, “On the job” Video, Group Photos,
Architecture, Still-life, Drone/Aerial, Staged or Scripted – Imagery and Video - Not too much “behind the scenes stuff..”
- Should we do some interviews?
- I hate the idea of being on camera
What they say:
I am so frustrated with my marketing – why does it have to be so painful?
What they mean:
- There are too many options
- How much should I be paying?
- Marketing is a rip off
What they say:
I need help with analytics, KPIs, Benchmarks and Measurement
What they mean:
- We have never gotten a lead from our website
- Is there an easy way to see where our best customers are coming from?
- How do we figure out what to measure?
- Set up my Analytics, Search Console, FB Pixel
What they say:
I want to be #1 on Google
What they mean:
- How do we get on the front page of Google?
- How much does it cost to be #1?
- Let’s do the SEO
- Why is my competitor on the front page – their website sucks
- I think something is affecting my ranking
What they say:
What exactly does a Digital Marketing company do?
What they mean:
- Isn’t it all just Facebook Memes and Confusing software?
- We do trade shows, lunch and learns, in-person sales calls and personal networking – and it works; other than a website, what else do you need?
- How much to build a website?
- Can you provide an overview of your services?