(This topic was requested by one of our readers.)
We are all asked to do more with less. How do you know when to outsource your marketing?
When the Twin Towers and the economy were devastated in 2001, my largest client opted to move their advertising in-house. Immediately, I became expendable to my ad agency – along with a dozen of my friends. I didn’t know at the time, but it was the best day of my professional life!
Within a week, I had an interview with a credit union to be their Marketing VP. My first step … learn what the heck a credit union is! Soon after, my life as a financial marketer launched.
Now here’s where the outsourcing comes in. On my third day as a CU marketer, I had a meeting with this company called MarketMatch (yes, I’m not just a consultant, I was a client). What I realized was that I knew how to be a marketer, but there were nuances to financial marketing that I needed help with. What’s more, I was a department of one (and a part time assistant) and I had a lot to learn about my market. I hired MarketMatch to conduct market research that I didn’t have time to conduct on my own. I also used them to turbo-charge my learning curve on financial marketing.
So, what’s the lesson in all of this?
When do you turn to help?
Sole Search
Understand what you and your department are best at. Also own up to where you’re weaker.
I am an idea guy. I have created concepts for several award winning campaigns, but I don’t even know how to open design software.
Look to bolster your weaknesses so you have more time to maximize your strengths.
Manage Your Resources
Prioritize the most important items that MUST get done to achieve your strategic objectives. Then list all of the day-to-day stuff that you simply can’t avoid (newsletters, meeting reports, non-marketing tasks that fall on you, etc.).
I knew that I needed market research before I could design a plan to help my CU grow. I wanted to understand our level of awareness in the market, perceptions about us, perceptions of our competition, if the market knew what the heck a credit union was … or cared. I didn’t have time to properly conduct and analyze the research AND run my department, so I turned to MarketMatch.
In most cases, you can hire a marketing firm of many individuals, each with their own unique strengths for less than the expense of hiring one qualified marketing professional in-house. When you analyze your list of “must dos” and compare it to your sole searching exercise, you’ll quickly see if you can justify outsourcing and where to focus your outsourcing search.
Know You Are Unique
Every town has a local ad agency. And every agency has its strengths. But look at their client list (past and present).
As an ad man, I’ve worked on an enormous variety of accounts: water parks, soccer shin guards, international container shipping, refrigeration air compressors, large-format ink jet printers, legal documents, helicopter share ownership. While many of the basics of marketing apply across the board, I can tell you first-hand that there is no industry like ours.
Your marketing partner can’t provide prudent recommendations without a firm understanding of your balance sheet. If your agency doesn’t understand the unique needs of banking, they’ll be reduced to order takers by default.
Do They Help You Sleep Well At Night
The job of any outsourced partner is to strengthen your efforts, to provide an outside perspective, to fill expertise gaps and to ultimately make you look like a hero!
This may be a good time to mention MarketMatch’s ROI Guarantee!!!
Check several references from institutions of similar size, target segments and project scope. Can your agency point to other successes that closely resemble your needs? The bottom line … are you confident that, when you lay awake at night – concerned about all that troubles you – your institution’s marketing efforts will not be amongst the worries?
(Do you have a topic you'd like to see in this blog? Please add a comment below.)
Want to learn more? Enroll in the MarketMatch eCollege! Smart learning online sessions delivered five consecutive Tuesdays with CFMP credits, tactical advice and a game plan for success! Enroll here!
MarketMatch is a full-service marketing firm, dedicated to the credit union and community banking community. We utilize knowledge-based strategies to help you FOCUS on the efforts that will generate the greatest MOMENTUM for your organization and demonstrate RESULTS with our written ROI Guarantee.
MarketMatch is a full-service marketing firm, dedicated to the credit union and community banking community. We utilize knowledge-based strategies to help you FOCUS on the efforts that will generate the greatest MOMENTUM for your organization and demonstrate RESULTS with our written ROI Guarantee.
No comments:
Post a Comment