No matter how great your products and services are, your business won’t survive if you can’t get the word out to prospective consumers. But in the digital age, there are so many different ways to advertise that it can be quite a challenge figuring out whom to target, when to target them and on what platform.
That’s why hiring a marketing firm is a smart decision, but these companies have become so specialized, that they tend to be clustered in major cities. Therefore, it’s quite likely that you may need to hire a remote marketing firm; especially since it’s doubtful that one firm can take care of all of your marketing needs.
For example, you may need an SEO specialist to help drive your search rankings, a content marketer to generate more visits to your website, and a conversion rate optimization specialist to help turn those visitors into long-term clients.
So as you begin working with a long-distance marketing firm, here are three ways to ensure that relationship is as effective as possible, even though you may never meet in person.
Communicate Your Goals
One of the ways a company begins to flounder is when goals aren’t met, which creates havoc with a business plan, especially when launching new products or services. That’s why you have to be clear with your remote marketing agency about every one of your company’s goals.
But well-known marketing guru Wendy Marx said on her blog that it’s actually more important that you learn how to say no when you hear something that doesn’t feel right for your business.
“Don’t follow all the advice of marketing experts,” Marx stated.
In addition, you have to have a clear marketing plan and ensure that the marketing firm you’ve hired understands that plan.
For example, is online marketing the only way to reach new customers? Neil Patel doesn’t think so, and in this article, he said, “Another risk you run when you only focus on online marketing is you could be forgetting the local audience that’s right in front of you.” Communicating your marketing goals is vital to ensuring that you and your marketer share the same vision.
Make Introductions Between Firms
It’s highly unlikely one marketing firm can take care of all your business needs, so it’s important that you let each of your marketers know who else is on the team. Why? Because there will be times when overlap occurs in your marketing strategy, and you want your marketers to work together to create an integrated marketing plan for your business.
However, disagreement between your marketing team is not always a bad thing.
In a recent interview, Craig Rosenberg said, “I tell marketers that alignment does not mean that they will be invited over for Thanksgiving dinner…tension can actually be productive. Healthy dialogue will allow both sides to improve. In order for this friction to become a positive, a referee must determine where the “truth lies.”
The ‘referee’ that Rosenberg refers to is the company owner, whose job it is to evaluate all competing ideas to determine which can be combined most effectively to achieve success.
Set Up Regular Video Conferences
Despite the fact, or actually, because of the fact that you are working with a remote marketer, you must set up regular video conferences to talk through everything that is on the agenda. Technology has made it easy to use video platforms that can meet all your needs, including presentations and reports.
Video conferences also let you bring all your marketing firms to discuss the status of projects, existing challenges, new ideas, and changes to advertising campaigns.
Another benefit of regular video conferences is that it makes the relationship with your marketing firms much more proactive and less reactive. A proactive relationship is one in which both sides bring ideas to the table to keep your marketing on the cutting edge.
A reactive relationship is one in which you tell your marketers to do something, they do it, and you begin the process all over again, without allowing your marketing team to generate new ideas.
When you share important information with your marketing team such as your business goals, and the new products and services you plan to introduce, you make them an equal partner that is incentivized to achieve success.
Stay On Top of Your Team
The challenge with a remote marketing firm is that you can’t just walk into an office if something goes wrong, so frequent communication and setting clear goals will help ensure that you are all moving in the same direction.
If you need help building a fantastic marketing team, we’d be happy to talk to you about your company’s needs, and show you how we can add value to your business. Contact us today!
