Marketing - Marketing strategy consultant

How to get the best results from your digital marketing agency

(This month’s blog comes from our colleague, Charlotte who ran her own business and engaged marketing agencies prior to working with STO Consulting). I am in the fortunate position, having owned my own business for 3 years prior to being in marketing consulting, that I have been a customer of several digital marketing agencies. So I fully understand what the experience is like from the client’s point of view. The expectations, the optimism, and the feeling of being in safe hands when you are promised business growth and you start planning for a more affluent future.

Things you should never say to a prospect

I try my best to be polite when people call trying to sell me stuff, but really … If we’ve never met or spoken before, don’t ask me how I am. The level of insincerity involved in this is off the chart!

It’s also a really boring, time wasting question to have to answer. It produces a physical reaction in me such as slumping in my chair in frustration.

Just get straight to the point, tell me who you are and why you are calling and ask if it’s OK to continue. I’ll either say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. If it’s ‘no’ then you weren’t going to succeed anyway. You cannot create a need that doesn’t exist.

What I learned about business in 2017

Well, it has been a busy start to the year here at STO Consulting. From obtaining a new client on 2^nd January to retained work with ongoing clients. But it’s also worth taking time out to stop and review.

2017 was a decent year for STO. Not world domination just yet – there is room to grow. But good, sustainable growth and a bunch of nice clients with whom I like working.

For completeness it must be said that there have been some negatives, but overall the positives outweigh these many times over.

How to choose a marketing agency: 10 key pointers

Here are our top tips on how to choose a marketing agency:

Whose responsibility is strategy?

Not as obvious a question as it may sound. You should not outsource key decisions about how your business generates profit. These are too personal and too fundamental. Of course getting help with these is fine, but the business owners must be involved. So, the level and nature of the strategic input needs to be considered.