Small and gargantuan businesses alike have been through unprecedented changes in the last 20 years. Globalisation, and digital technology, has permeated every layer of each company, and marketing is no exception.
And while some companies have been through a process of ‘What’s marketing’, and ‘Oh – sort of like advertising, right?’, more and more specialist marketing companies have cropped up and taken on the task of proving how it’s done.
So, if you’re currently trusting someone else to do the majority of your promotion, here are a few ways you could do a little DIY marketing yourself.
Acknowledging your fount of knowledge
Nobody knows more about your business than the people who work there. If you imagine a pyramid of knowledge that relates specifically to your business and brand – you’re right at the top. Then, it’s likely to be your customers, clients, and maybe even your competitors.
Marketers or marketing agencies, no matter how much experience they embody, will forever remain further down the pyramid. This is important to remember, as it will help you to recognise that, in an ideal world, you should be doing as much marketing as you can, internally.
Understanding exactly what’s what
Many agencies will claim to be able to do the lot; marketing, advertising, PR. And that’s not to say that they aren’t capable of performing each different task. But what you won’t know, unless you ask, is whether they are going to further outsource the tasks they ‘take’ on your behalf.
This is where it’s worth you understanding a few basics, such as what separates marketing from PR, marketing from advertising, and the many facets of digital marketing. If you already maintain your website, in house, or pay someone else to do this, it’s also worth taking some time to ensure that your pages are ready for digital marketing. It’s likely that an agency could do this on your behalf, but it could be another way to tackle a little more of the work internally.
Recognising the smaller, bigger picture
Let’s say that your annual turnover is (and sorry if this figure is way out – it’s just an easy figure to remember!) £1 million per annum. If a marketing company were able to increase that by 30% each year, you’d be pretty chuffed with the £1.3 million, right? However, a smaller increase, of say 1%, week by week – which is achievable in-house – would actually work out to be far more effective over the year.
Essentially, by simply taking the time to do a little more yourself, the rewards are there. Plus, you’ve got the time to learn how to improve your strategy, albeit while finding the time to do so. But this is part of seeing the ‘smaller, bigger picture’. By finding a little more time to concentrate on marketing internally, the overall rewards could be significant.
Investing in yourself, as opposed to others
There are plenty of variables to consider here, including your budget, number of staff, and existing infrastructure of hardware and software. But by understanding the above points, and recognising the simple, hopefully effective things that marketers and agencies have done for you, you’ll be better placed to recognise which areas of your business are worth investing in right now.
For instance, considering the revenue you now know can be generated, could you hire your own marketing professional, or expand your team? Could you do all your print marketing internally, with a high quality, modern printer by Duplo International? And what about paying for internal marketing training – as opposed to paying someone else to do it, while gaining no new knowledge?
By taking stock of how much money you’ve spent on external marketing, and knowing that this only meant buying a few hours of another person’s time, imagine what you could do with that money yourself. Plus, at the end of the day, you know more about your business than anyone else – and that will never change.
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Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.