If you’re lucky enough to have enough of a budget to secure professional help for your marketing, it doesn’t mean you can pass the buck when things go wrong.
Of course, I’m not referring to those of you that employ a marketing agency to run that side of things for you. This post is aimed at those of you who use professional copywriters, web designers, and SEO consultants at the start and then decide you can continue with things on your own.
In the beginning, your marketing kicked butt
You started by gathering your dream team. You hired an exceptional copywriter, web designer, and SEO guru.
After many hours of research and soul searching you agreed on a design that worked for you, an SEO strategy, and content that Google and your customers loved.
Once up and running it was great. You maintained the copywriter for a while to create some blog posts for you. However, after a few months, you decided it was an unnecessary cost, and you could go it alone.
Twelve months on
Your climbing sales have stagnated.
Your rankings are slipping.
Your blog has died because you haven’t had time to write anything for several months.
Whom do you blame? Your original experts of course.
Is it their fault?
No.
The buck stops with you
It would have been a different story if you had continued working with them.
Rather than creating a static website, your designer could have helped you evolve your site to keep pace with the changing demands of your customers.
By keeping your copywriter on retainer, she would have continued to provide you with high-quality blog posts that would have enhanced your SEO strategy and maintained that constant stream of traffic to your website that was converting into leads.
Talking of SEO, had you continued to work with your guru, you would have been able to adjust your strategy as needed to compete with all those other companies trying to rank for the same search terms as you.
Marketing professionals are worth their weight in gold
When you find the expert that’s right for you, hold on to them tight.
Even if you think you can get the same service cheaper, you can’t.
Professional fees deliver exceptional results. They are highly trained and experts in their field.
Anyone can claim to be an expert in SEO, a professional copywriter, or a leading web designer, but few can prove it.
By all means, take a look at their websites and the work they’ve done. However, also take the time to talk to them to get a feel for what they’re like.
Another word of warning, don’t just go by testimonials. A few years ago I had a ‘copywriting’ company steal my testimonials (of course, only those from my high profile clients) and attempt to pass them off as their own. Luckily for me, the thieves weren’t very bright and left in where the client had mentioned my name and my company name, which is how I found out.
Marketing evolves – it doesn’t just happen
Marketing is not static.
Your strategy has to evolve with your marketing place, your customers and your business.
Times change and if you don’t change with them – well, remember what happened to the dinosaurs?
If your marketing is failing, it’s down to you and the choices you are making. Unless you happen to be an expert writer, designer, coder, and SEO God, you can’t achieve a winning marketing strategy on your own.
You are only as good as the team around you, and you deserve to work with the best.
Sally Ormond is the professional freelance copywriter you’ve been searching for. Call her on +44 (0) 1449 779605 for a ‘get to know you’ chat.