How to avoid sales and marketing fraudsters. (We know, we don’t like them either.)

Welcome to the snark fest.  

It’s true, I’ve got a bone to pick with specific channel marketing vendors that I will NOT be calling out by name. (That takes a special kind of a-hole.)  

BUT, I will be referencing certain marketing “companies” and their flimsy efforts to prevent you from getting your milk-money pickpocketed by a playground bully.  

First of you, you’re not alone in your sales and marketing struggles.  

Everyone at one point has had issues with their marketing. Even we do, from time to time, and we’re a digital marketing firm! 

Here are some of the most common mistakes you might have fallen prey to:   

• You signed up for an expensive “marketing masterclass” when you’re not even a marketer, you’re a tech/MSP/SaaS owner.   
• You subscribed to a “club” that gives you marketing or other tasks to complete without an overall marketing strategy, plan and guidance on how to execute said tasks.  
• You joined a sales and marketing “program” designed by someone with no business successes prior to offering their so-called, “world-class programs.” 
• You spent thousands of dollars on marketing software only to realize that you needed to dump thousands more into customizing it for your IT business.  
• Your sales and marketing program lacks structure, proven processes and accountability. 
• You’ve spent lots of money, with no clear way to measure your ROI and wound up with no tangible results. 
• The “marketing kit” you paid $500 a month for is the SAME, EXACT STUFF that 500 of your other peers are using as well as your biggest competitors. 
• You paid a monthly fee for low-quality copy that was last updated in 1997.

Let’s get honest: 

• If you’re not a marketer by trade, you don’t need to be a master in it. You only need to clearly communicate what you offer, your target buyers and how you solve client problems and make their lives better.  
• Without a strategy and a plan, all the tasks in the world will get you nowhere fast. 
• Spend the time to research the people who create the programs you purchase. They should have proven marketing and business successes prior to offering their expert, life shattering program. 
• Consult before you buy. Yes, this is a hard one to swallow, but you’d be better off paying for a few consulting hours with a trustworthy marketer before you spend the big bucks on software, canned copy, flashy marketing tactics and kits, mascots and poodles, etc. (If you don’t know of any trustworthy marketing folks, contact me.)  

How does this hurt your business? 

These expensive learn and lease but “cheap” to use methodologies hurt your business while lining the pockets’ of unscrupulous marketers.  

Your clients can sense low-quality content like a punk-ass skunk miles away.  

By smearing such poor, confusing, ick factor copy on their fresh bagels like week old cream cheese, you make them secretly despise you for running their breakfast. They’ll be avoiding you moving forward like socially awkward, unzipped fly guy at the office party.  

BECAUSE guess what? He ruined their bagels too. #bagelsRIP  

The lesson here is this: refuse to be a 1970’s mustache on the face of 2021 marketing. Seriously, shave that garbage off! Burn all the crappy copy and bury it in your backyard. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. 

How can you do it better?  

Yes, let’s talk about this because we can all do better. 

• Create valuable educational content. They should walk away having learned something.   
• Inspire them to want to solve their problems. Make them the “hero” that you “guide” to success. 
• Be engaging, slightly entertaining and authentic Engage in real conversations with your buyers. 
• Speak their language. Use the same words they do.  
• Meet them where they are, which is mostly online via email, social media and industry associations virtual gatherings. 

Once you’ve accomplished the above, try adding in a good dose of this human-buying psychology-based process… 

Plan. 

You need to know where you’re headed and how to get there with a proven plan. 

Persona. 

You want more clients that you love and vice versa. So, identify your ideal buyer so that you can show them how you solve their technology issues, once and for all.  

Publishing Plan.  

Write captivating blog posts that speak directly to your ideal buyers. Then, create persuasive, educational email campaigns that promote your soon-to-be industry-leading blog among other types of content.  

Promote. 

Figure out where your ideal buyers are hanging out online and in person. This is where you want to promote your content so that its hits their eyeballs and inspires them to reach out.  

Purpose. 

Know thyself. Know thy business. Quit wasting your and other peoples’ time. It’s your responsibility to be intentional about your sales and marketing strategies, process and tactics. Stop spraying the whole terrain combing for leads. Instead focus your energies on building relationships with your clients and trustworthy reputation in the spaces they hang out. Also, make sure you’re tracking your efforts and measuring your ROI.  

Should you outsource your marketing or hire it out?  

This may be hard to believe, but generally you’ll save about 20% to 40% off your bottom line by outsourcing it. 

Here’s why:  

• Hiring a good marketing executive will run you about $80k to $100k annually.  
• Additional marketing expenses (content creation, marketing automation software, tradeshows, paid ads) will cost you anywhere from $20-200K depending on your company’s size and growth goals. And that’s just the salary of your marketing person, that’s not additional expenses like someone to write copy, your marketing automation software, tradeshows, paid ads, etc.   

Outsourcing your marketing will get you more marketing expertise per dollar. Your one marketing executive will have their strengths and weaknesses, which is normal. However, when you outsource to an agency, you’ll have a team of experts, whose collective strengths will overlap any weaknesses.  

Plus, most agencies invest heavily in professional development and project management. They’ll be up on the latest and greatest in the marketing world.  

At the end of the day, your sales and marketing dollars should be working harder for you and producing tangible, revenue generating ROI.   

Stay tuned for more knowledge and tools that will help.   

Lastly, if you’ve already spent tons on marketing and are not getting any visible ROI, please contact me for an audit. I truly want you to be spending your sales and marketing dollars in a way that will increase your revenue. 

Want your IT business to grow, using tactics like these and others? Look no further. Fill out the form on this page to get started.