Tag Archives: professional services

Content With No Content

Does your professional services firm have a strategy to produce, distribute and repurpose content for multiple market segments? If it does, you are in the minority. Best practices are to create and disseminate content to enhance search engine rankings. Philosophically, billable professionals have insights to share and there are numerous venues for thought leadership to be established. The fact of the matter is, sadly, that the professionals simply are not easily engaged to sit down and generate the content.

The almighty billable hour, the internal metrics, and the likelihood that most would prefer to do the work than to write about it, are all reasons one may choose not to blog, write articles or white papers, or post updates ad tweets. Simply put, very few firms have much experience creating an environment that acknowledges and rewards contributions to thought leadership that do not produce an immediate return. Performance measurement and incentive compensation practices will need to be revised in order to encourage content production as a preferred behavior within the daily, weekly, etc schedule.

If, like other forms of outsourcing, the firm were to contract with a contractor to produce content on behalf of the billable professionals, it would most likely lack the technical acumen and personal passion necessary to be an intriguing, gripping read. However, contract content editors may be a very good idea. Either a staff person or outsider could help to determine themes, subjects, and nuances that would make the content more readable in layman terminology.

Revise & Refine

 

Become discontent with unsatisfactory content–both in terms of volume and quality. Find ways to change the corporate culture to celebrate the content revolution. Articulate the increased stature and visibility that authors enjoy. Recruit firm leaders to demonstrate their personal commitment to writing–even when it produces no immediate revenues. Finally, make writing an assignment. Section/niche leaders should have a scheduled slot for covering their “beats.” Those aspiring to become partners can demonstrate their drive by taking on writing responsibilities. With content editors, these activities can be managed to successfully produce great content, repurpose it for other social media uses, and promote firm expertise.

Ambiguous Marketing Budgets lead to… ambiguous results

Have you ever heard the rant of a financial executive who is fuming because marketing ROI is so hard to define? The lament is usually that “branding” is not enough–that some quantifiable return is desired, but no one really pins it down. Some argue that revenues are the only true barometer. Others feel that smaller yardsticks are better–number of new clients, number of proposals made, number of inbound calls, etc. But…what about % of proposals won, % change in inbound calls, etc to provide comparative data?

Yet…”return” still has to be measured in comparison to investment. In many cases, the investment amount is, to quote Churchill, “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” Why is this so? In many privately owned businesses, it is because marketing dollars are enshrouded in expense reimbursements, dues and sponsorships. Actual agency costs, advertising spend, etc are sometimes separate line items on the income statement, but are often rolled up into an aggregate. In order to have credibility with the financial (& equity) folks, we as marketers need to ask for more detail. It is in our best interests to know travel & entertainment, training, and similar expenses that are charged by managers/executives and reimbursed but not clearly demarcated as marketing costs. However, because we are not considered part of the brain trust, we can be excluded from such conversations/communications.

What's Your Measurement?

 

Once we are able to acquire access to the true marketing financials, we can perform an ROI analysis more effectively. (I prefer to describe this as an “ROM.”) Then, tradeoffs can be evaluated. There may be some in the organization who are unwise in their expense management to the point that allowing them to ring up reimbursable costs is not an investment at all, but a distraction from effective, accountable marketing.

Having the frank conversation with the top financial executive/business owner(s) can set the stage for your voice to gain credibility. No longer may you be perceived as the “soft and fuzzy” management team member, but rather a strategic contributor to business performance. If you are savvy enough to learn what your industry standards are for marketing as a percentage of costs/revenues, then you can help set the budget requisite to drive growth and carve out better market share.

As the marketing budget becomes a management accountability tool, results are easier to predict. Sensitivity analysis can then yield insights into the levers that drive revenue performance. Congratulations–you are then on your way to concrete rather than ambiguous conversations and may soon find that the frustration of not being heard begins to fade away…!

Your Firm’s Marketing is Unaccountable

Small firms (CPA, law, architects, engineers, etc.) often cannot afford full-time marketing staff. If there is full-time staff, budgets may limit the caliber of the person manning the position.  As a result of the lack of an executive, full-time presence, most firms subcontract with outside agencies for some or all of their marketing.

Unfortunately, the outsourcing of this key business function leads to marketing that is not accountable to the goals of the business. Many agencies are specialists in one area and weaker in others. Consequently, the marketing strategies that are often pursued are not integrated and, therefore, unable to achieve results that are superior and sustainable. In addition to the lack of breadth in approach, there is also likely a lack of measurement as to how successful the programs have been.

Marketing can be one area of the business for which metrics are hard to establish, monitor, and enforce. Internally, your leadership team needs to determine your goals before retaining an agency. Is reputation management your main concern, or is lead generation the focus, or are you trying to develop brand presence in a new niche? Starting with the end in mind will drive your goal setting. Break the goals down into intermediate measurements. For instance, if a firm is looking for more leads and you know how many leads are desired, then establishing a desired cost per lead generated seems like a reasonable measurement. An intermediate measurement may be determining how many leads are desired. Or, the size of the marketing budget. (As a general best practice, it is encouraged that you think in terms of 1-2% of revenues for marketing budget.)

After the metrics have been developed, then it is time to contract with an agency. Interview multiple ones–even if one of your partners has a relationship with a principal in one firm in town. During the interviews, challenge the agencies to provide you a proposal as to how they could meet your goals, including budget. Ask them if they would be willing to provide reports on progress against budget and step aside if they do not help you meet your goals.

Adding accountability into your marketing will yield appreciable benefits over time. The ability to anticipate the outcome of certain marketing actions becomes a competency that drives business performance. Sensitivity analysis can then be applied to determine how minor tweaks to the mix will affect the overall outcome(s). Get started today. Don’t wait until you are less busy. You will be glad you did!