Gut Check: How to Determine if You’re Underspending on Marketing

188047131Though I’ve been in marketing for the staffing industry for nearly 20 years, it never fails to surprise me how often firms fall into one of two lines of thinking around marketing:

  • The Skeptics: Known to say things like “We’re successful enough without marketing.” Or “We’ve built this business to where it is with barely any investments in marketing.”
  • The Advocates: Known for phrases like “How fast can we get this launched?” and “How do we maximize the program’s ROI?”

Can you guess who tends toward underspending when it comes to marketing?

Skepticism is a critical business skill. I have learned that the analytical skills employed by my friends in “The Skeptics” category are one of the key reasons they have been able to build and grow strong staffing businesses despite tough economic and employment conditions. Taking time from the hard work of maintaining profitability to talk about responsive websites, visual brand elements and social media can feel frivolous to business leaders who have succeeded without them so far.

How do I help business leaders assess the value of marketing practices, tools and programs that so far, they have done “just fine” without? I start with three “Marketing Gut Check” questions:

  • Is your brand robust and growing?
  • Are you winning net-new client accounts regularly?
  • Are you effectively growing your business within existing client accounts?

And this is where my job gets easy. It’s hard to miss what you’ve never had or measure opportunities you don’t know you’re missing. These questions are also answers — answers to that essential question, “What does marketing actually do for a staffing firm?” It grows your brand so you can grow your business.

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If a staffing firm can’t respond with a resounding “yes” to each of my three gut check questions, its marketing strategy is underfunded and/or underperforming. From there, we can examine the organization’s marketing tools and tactics from a simple ROI perspective. What marketing is the business investing in and what is coming back to the business in terms of brand growth, new clients and deeper account penetration?

The marketing advocates I encounter in the staffing industry usually come from firms with strong marketing arms. Or, they previously worked for organizations with marketing teams and are eager to get back to a vigorous marketing program. Those same three gut check questions still apply as a tool for identifying marketing gaps and needs. The simple difference is The Advocates already know what they are missing. They are more open to marketing investments — but just like the admirable skeptics—they should and often do have clear ROI expectations.

And that’s another thing I have learned to admire about the staffing industry and those who run it. They understand measuring business success in clear metrics and numbers — gross margins, sales profits, productivity ratios, ROI, etc. Whether you’re an advocate, skeptic or fall somewhere in the middle, once you understand the bottom-line value of marketing, it quickly becomes something you can measure, maneuver and master.

MORE: marketing secrets of successful staffing firms

Leslie Vickrey

Leslie Vickrey
Leslie Vickery is founder and CEO of ClearEdge Marketing. She can be reached lvickrey (at) clearedgemarketing (dot) com.

Leslie Vickrey

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5 Responses to “Gut Check: How to Determine if You’re Underspending on Marketing”

  1. GabrielBarnes says:

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  2. […] “Though I’ve been in marketing for the staffing industry for nearly 20 years, it never fails to surprise me how often firms fall into one of two lines of thinking around marketing: The Skeptics: Known to say things like “We’re successful enough…”  […]

  3. […] Though I’ve been in marketing for the staffing industry for nearly 20 years, it never fails to surprise me how often firms fall into one of two lines of thinking around marketing: The Skeptics: Known to say things like “We’re successful enough…  […]

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