April 6, 2011

Most small businesses are stuck in a really expensive and limiting belief that they need a full-time marketing person on their team. I know this may sound strange coming from a marketing professional, but believe me when I tell you that unless you’ve made the decision that you are IN the marketing business, you don’t need a full time marketing person. Here’s why.

1.   You can’t afford a full-time marketer. Seth Godin-types are few and far between. And if they really are as gifted at marketing as they claim, then they wouldn’t be out schlepping for a full-time marketing position at a small business. Effective marketing people go for a good six-figures and that’s not including the benefits.

2.   A full-time marketer will have a conflict of interest. Really good marketing people are going to challenge absolutely everything about your business. They will ask questions about your product, your service, your customers, your distributors and your salespeople. They will look at your strategies and challenge your assumptions. They will criticize your website, your marketing materials, colors, logos and other details that you thought were perfectly fine. They will make you feel uncomfortable and push you in a direction you hadn’t thought about going into. All of these things are virtually impossible to do if you are afraid of getting fired because you are telling it like it is. This means that when you add a marketing employee, they will be more apt to agree with you than create a marketing strategy that will make you money.

3.   You NEED an outsider’s insight. One thing that an outside marketing adviser can offer you is insights and best practices from a broad spectrum of industries. You’ll be able to reap the benefits of adapting strategies and tactics from unrelated industries and make an absolute killing on the competitive landscape. Not only that, but if your marketing adviser has a strong personal brand in the marketing world, your organization has just snatched up some killer expertise at a fraction of the cost of a less experienced but more expensive employee.

4.   An outsider’s network becomes YOUR network. These days, it’s not just about the person–it’s about their network. An outside marketing adviser has a strong and influential network that can give you access to hundreds of people who can be mobilized on your company’s behalf.

5.   Outsiders are faster. An employee gets paid a salary with a bonus. But an outside expert has an incentive to get the job done, get it done right and at the lowest cost possible because THEIR profitability depends on doing good work fast and without overpaying.

6.   Free of political influence. No matter how you slice it, employees get caught up in internal politics and issues. An outside person’s allegiance is to you, the business owner. An outsider’s focus is on results and profitability.

Which type of marketer is right for your business?

Does your business have an established sales and marketing system? A franchise or network marketing business is a good example of a turnkey marketing system. If that’s your situation, then you need an implementer. An implementer has experience in your industry and/or with your type of business. You’ll want someone with direct marketing experience, copywriting skills and someone who can do Web and social media work.

If your business doesn’t have any kind of marketing system at all, then you need a strategist. A strategist is a bigger-picture person. They will have experience in customer and market research, marketing and product management, offering development and implementation. They will have the ability to help you identify your ideal customer, figure out what’s important to them and build you a turnkey marketing system. Once the system is built,  you’ll want an implementer.

Related Topics

• Marketing

Related keywords

Ivana Taylor, Article, hiring, marketing strategies, Small Business Trends

Join the conversation ( 10 )

• Martin Richardson 11 months ago

  

  Some marketeers are interested in small companies because of their growth potential. If they are confident they can make a difference, they might see a smaller company as having far greater potential than a larger, better established firm.Many small companies are concerned with information security and may well be uncomfortable with using an outside firm for fear of disclosure (deliberate or otherwise) to potential copycat start-ups or competitors.Some new media, or new opportunity companies aren't in need of experience but rather enthusiasm and a good understanding of new media that may come from hiring a good, younger person straight out of college.Someone who will stick with the challenge and be compensated in accordance with their success and thereby assume some of the risks.The idea that a larger external company might have some special expertise is false. They are usually sluggish and stick to the tried and tested. Many services are sold to small business as being special or unique but this is generally not true, the same argument applies to them: it is unlikely that an innovative marketing risk taker will be working for a large 'marketing' firm that specializes in cold-calling for clients.

• Stephen Duke MBA, F.CIM 1 year 1 months and 13 days ago

  

  No man/woman is a prophet in his/her own land. A good marketing executive has a short shelf life IMO. Eventually, through no fault of their own, the dynamics shift power and influence to others i.e. resistors, people with other agendas, internal politics. As Ivana writes, a good marketer challenges everything. People don't like this in general; they like it less on a regular basis.That said, it is challenging to bring marketing strategy from the outside and get buy-in with stickiness too. Consultants come and go leaving the implementers often confused, or unattached to the strategy, resulting in defaults to status quo - arguing it [the strategy] didn't work. After all, they want to keep their jobs and making the outsider look wrong/bad, gives them the false sense of security to which they are accustomed.

• Jean Kuhn 1 year 1 months and 20 days ago

  

  Excellent article. In regards to point 2, when you hire a full time marketing employee, you still have an employee. I agree that they won't challenge your marketing process, they will do what they are told, AND isn't that the real reason you hired an employee, because you really don't want to change. But when you hire a marketing consultant they are your strategic partner, and you respect their professional opinion. And you should because you are paying them a boat load of money to help you build your business quickly.

• Vivek Bhaskaran 1 year 1 months and 23 days ago

  

  @Michael - I disagree with your assessment. First of all you mean "written" and not "writted" - I am assuming. Secondly, lets stick to the point on the article rather than ranting about what Ivana Taylor's personal capacity is. Its pointless. The fact that Ivana is bringing to light is the external influence that marketers provide when developing ideas. While Ivana makes a bold statement, it has some underlying truth to it. The real issue Ivana raises here is, as a small business, which is what this forum is really targeting, how much of your revenue can you spend on marketing. Externalizing this cost, provides companies with the flexibility of going up and down on marketing as the business grows. I've done that personally for many of the businesses I run and the simple fact is, its worked out very well for us.

• Karel Kramer 1 year 1 months and 23 days ago

  

  I beg to differ that "effective marketing people go for a good six-figures" - particulary at a small business and in the current economy.

• JULIE LARSON 1 year 1 months and 23 days ago

  

  Okay, now that I had to jump through about twelve different hoops just to be able to make a comment ...This article should be titled: "I'm a Consultant and I Want You to Hire Me!" It couldn't have been more biased and it couldn't be more wrong. After 40 years of being in business, I assure you that a consultant's primary interest is creating and perpetuating their own business, which basically means what they're best at is convincing business owners that they do some kind of magic that no one else knows or can do.I know of multiple consultants making a nice living off the fact that business people are mystified about social media and think they cannot do it themselves. There is no one who knows the business better than its owner and staff, and if they do not set marketing goals consistent with operations, and have direct control over the individual doing the marketing, their own issues will not be well-served. I live, breathe, eat and sleep our business -- no consultant will do that for me; I have a very active social media presence, I manage our website, email, customer service base, coupon strategy, major media and training 38 managers in 38 locations, and their staff, how to do on-the-ground marketing. I learn something every day that has to do with my market and my business, I am always open to new things from a perspective of how it will benefit my business. Do I have all the answers? No, and neither do the consultants, but I'm better able to recognize opportunities than a marketer who is marketing themselves at the same time they would be marketing me. In a time of ZERO dollars to spare, I'm glad I trained myself to be that well integrated in my business. Every so often a consultation helps, but otherwise, thank you, no.

• Ivana Taylor 1 year 1 months and 23 days ago

  

  @ Michael - I knew that this article would bring up a lot of emotion. I'm thrilled that you put your thoughts out there. I actually think that you are spot on with the points you make. 6-figures is, indeed a great investment for someone like you who has delivered and has a proven track record. This obviously doesn't apply to your situation or your company. And I certainly didn't intend to paint that broad a stroke.This article is really targeted toward the true small business owner who has sales of less than $50 million and isn't really in an industry that requires a massive marketing machine where they are researching, creating and designing lots of new consumer products for the following year.@Aaron - In the second half of this article, I also outline different skill sets for marketing people that a small business should consider before hiring one. I've already been a corporate full time marketing person for a NYSE listed publicly held company, I've been a product manager for a several hundred million dollar company and the Wordlwide Director of Marketing for a major instrument manufacturer. My intention is not to be self-serving, but to help small businesses get the best kind of marketing help they need for the budget dollars they have.

• Aaron Smith 1 year 1 months and 23 days ago

  

  Pretty self-serving article in my opinion. Please call it what it is: "why you should consider using marketing consultants like me." So here's why one SHOULD consider having an inside marketing leader (like me):- they are beholden to the RESULT of their work, instead of flying over and passively leaving their insight- they will have a much deeper understanding of your organization and customers than a consultant who comes in, asks for a bunch of money to tell you what time it is, then asks to borrow your watch- the annals of business are littered with failed companies who had good ideas, good products, good people, yet failed to internalize the marketing culture- a marketing leader is by default a strategy leader. What the author describes is why a small company should outsource media and advertising.

• michael smith 1 year 1 months and 23 days ago

  

  This couldnt be a more innacurate and faulty article, and writted by a "marketing specialist" at that. Mrs. Taylor, you should be ashamed of yourself. As a full time marketer my job is to MAKE MONEY for my company, and that I have done. I have increased customer base and revenue, something an outsider could have never done. A good marketer knows his company inside and out and can strategize around company goals, brands and business models better than any outsider can do. 6 figure salaries are a small price to pay for the growth a good marketer can bring to the table, and they are not as few and far between as Set Godin. I could go on about all the \inaccuracies in this article, but I don't have time not the inclination to respond to such a terrible article. Your bias as a freelancer really shows your ignorance here and you should be ashamed. I believe this article is a reflection on your own skills, why you don't and can't work as a full time marketer for a company yourself.

• Vince Skolny 1 year 1 months and 24 days ago

  

  This is a good list, Ivana, and I agree with each point, but there's a small paradox in the second.While a full-time marketer will have a conflict of interest, a company so hostile to the challenges that she needs fear being fired is a company that is not going to respond to an outside marketer, either.I encountered it when I worked as an independent marketing strategist. Business owners loved the concepts and strategies I put forth in speeches and my newsletter, but when it came to the nitty-gritty of integrating those strategies into their companies? Not so much.For some the idea that they weren't doing things the right way was downright offensive; why they engaged a marketer at all is a puzzle.Too many SBOs (and no doubt entrenched executives) want to improve marketing and profitability. . . by continuing the standard course.Probably, though, they aren't reading blogs like this one. So, keep up the great work.