Business Strategy and Marketing Solutions

Purchasing Marketing Services? Avoid These Costly Mistakes.

Small business owners are particularly vulnerable when they purchase marketing services. Scrupulous with purchasing materials and services that are fundamental to the operation of their business, business owners new to marketing tend to have a different set of buying guidelines, with potentially costly consequences. Here are some of the top mistakes to avoid:

• Before hiring an ad agency, determine if other services are more suited to your needs. For example, you may be perfectly satisfied with a design studio rather than an ad agency.
• If you hire an ad agency, be wary about hiring a friend or family member; while the services may be perfectly reasonable and of an appropriate quality level initially, it may be difficult to discipline, argue with, or dismiss the agency at a later time.
• If you purchase print media, obtain multiple estimates and ask what commission level is being applied. For ongoing orders, re-submit for new estimates every year and always include a new potential source.
• Buy the quality you need to get the job done: no more and no less. This relates to all services and can be particularly costly for design and print production. How do you know what the job calls for? Decide on quality before looking at creative executions.
• Work off a strategy, such as a marketing strategy. More sophisticated companies use creative, media, and promotional strategies. Even simple strategies can be helpful to keep you focused.
• Leave time to make decisions, especially decisions on creative materials like ads and brochures. Don't feel pressured to make a decision at the presentation; there is nothing unprofessional about insisting on time to reflect on what has been presented. In fact, first impressions, though valuable, are not necessarily complete.
• If you are using a service that is unfamiliar to you, like search engine optimization, insist on a complete description of the extent of services, how they can monitored and evaluated, and the rationale for using a particular approach. Never accept "black box" solutions.

Mission: To help small and mid-size businesses capture the power of big-picture marketing.