In the world of advertising and marketing, professionals tend to take one of two routes. Either they go work for an agency and spend their career as a service provider or they go to a company and join the internal marketing team. I happen to be the oddball who can’t decide where he wants to be. You see, my career is almost evenly split between working for an agency and working in and/or managing an internal marketing department. Because of this, I have seen the good and bad of both sides of the coin and can hopefully use my experience to save you time, money, and from a few headaches.
When it comes to business, each of us has our strengths. Some are great managers or leaders and have a unique knack for inspiring others to do their best. Others are great at building relationships and closing deals. Yet others are great at numbers. And, of course, there are marketers. I know, there are numerous other specialties like operations, client relations, development, the list goes on and on, but the point is, no one is great at doing everything. Many entrepreneurs try and succeed to an extent, but undoubtedly, the day comes when it’s no longer manageable to do everything so the entrepreneur decides to look for a specialist.
Unfortunately, when it comes to marketing, many entrepreneurs make one of two mistakes.
Mistake #1 – Hiring someone who is unqualified or underqualified
The well-intended entrepreneur tells himself, “Marketing can’t be that hard right? Why pay a six-figure salary when someone right out of school or with a few years of experience costs a fraction of that? After all, the business is still growing and we’re not ready for someone at that level. When we get big enough, we’ll hire someone more experienced.”
I get this sentiment. In all honesty, my second real job hired me for just this reason. And, you know what, I was better at marketing than the partner who was an accountant and ran marketing as an after-thought. But, I wasn’t great. As a matter of fact, that company paid me to learn how to become a great marketer. While I’m grateful that they did, they lost years of momentum while I was figuring things out.
As a quick aside, for nearly a decade, I have taught marketing and communication courses at the collegiate level. I completely understand that hands-on experience is the only way for young marketers to learn and grow. I’ve have given dozens of references, referrals, and resume reviews for those who are just beginning my career. My point is that, while young marketers need this experience, it is really best that they learn under the direction of an experienced marketer. While I realize this isn’t always an option, do you really want to toss an inexperienced marketer into the deep end and gamble that they’ll learn to “swim”?
While hiring someone with a few years out of college is a better idea, oftentimes, they only have experience in one or two areas of marketing. While they may be very proficient in those areas, there are potentially dozens of other channels you should be considering that they aren’t even aware of.
What you really need is a jack-of-all-trades marketer. Someone who has been in the industry long enough that they have dabbled in everything. He/she most likely won’t be an expert at every aspect of marketing but will be able to understand each channel, will be able to manage some and will be able to outsource others where needed. What you really need is an experienced marketing director. Settling for anything less provides for a poor experience for you and for the inexperienced employee you just hired.
Mistake #2 – Hiring a full-service agency
The well-intended entrepreneur tells himself, “I don’t know how to do everything but this agency does. I’ll just let them tell me what to do.”
Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a slam against agencies. There are a lot of great agencies out there that I have worked with/for who I would hire in a second. There are other agencies that I have worked with that… well, let’s just say, I’d love to see them working on my competitors’ accounts.
Many entrepreneurs are attracted by the “full-service” messaging. After all, why not hire an expert who can do everything? The issue arises when you need a service the agency doesn’t provide or in an area where they don’t have experience. At this point, one of two things happens, either they offer you a less-effective product or service that they do provide or they tell you yes and then they learn how to provide the new service on your dime. Either way, it’s a lose-lose for you and a win-win for them.
The difficulty with full-service agencies is that most of them, particularly smaller local agencies, are really only good at a handful of services. Oftentimes, they even started as a niche shop and then started to branch out to other services as clients asked for them.
There is a better option!
Have you considered a Fractional CMO or Marketing Director? You knew I had to pitch what I do somewhere. With the rise of the “freelance-economy,” many former marketing executives have taken the path of consulting for multiple small businesses. While none of them have the financial resources to hire a marketing executive, when sharing his/her time, it becomes incredibly affordable. In fact, hiring a Fractional CMO is often less expensive than hiring a new marketer right out of college. A Fractional CMO becomes part-time member of your team who can help you create the most effective marketing plan for your business, can manage newer marketers you hire, and hire and manage agencies for you.
Does this sound too good to be true? Why don’t you find out for yourself?
At Rhino Crash Marketing, we have the philosophy of try it before you buy it.
We’ll review your current marketing efforts and go through our proprietary 100-point marketing audit with you. From there, we’ll build out a customized Marketing Roadmap for your business to get you on the right track to achieve your growth goals.
Regardless of whether you choose to work with us or not, the audit, roadmap, and initial consulting won’t cost you a thing.
Request Your FREE 100-Point Marketing Audit
Recent Comments