When did ‘DIY’ become the only option for small business marketing?
Why should a landscape gardener need to know about Localised SEO? Why on earth would business consultant be expected to build their own website? And who really thinks it’s a good idea to let estate agents loose on their own social media?!
The era of digital has brought with it the ability for business owners and sole traders to access new sales opportunities through all manner of affordable platforms and processes, whether it’s setting up and running your own email marketing, or setting up Pay Per Click adverts on Google. It’s true, you absolutely can do it all yourself, just pop to YouTube for the tutorials and off you go.
While this may work for some, the majority of people that we speak to struggle. They struggle to find the time. They struggle to stand out. They struggle to tie everything together. And most importantly, they struggle to get results. What most businesses end up with is a piece-meal mess that lacks efficiency and leaves the owner doubting whether marketing is actually effective.
If this sounds like you then stick around, because we’ve developed the solution. The Proxy Marketing Manager. And this is what it looks like;
What you are seeing, above, is calm. It’s a breath of fresh air. It’s you focussing on your business, selling products, delivering coaching or cutting hair, and us, the marketers, doing the marketing.
In more specific terms, this is you engaging a Proxy Marketing Manager for 2 hours per week. With those two hours they will manage a tranche of hand selected 3rd parties on your behalf. You have just a single point of contact with your best interest at heart, bags of experience, and they manage the delivery of whatever marketing tools are most suitable for your business, advised by us but signed off by you.
We are marketers! We speak the lingo of the 3rd parties, we know when they are bullsh***ing us – although they don’t bother, because they know we know (that they know..).
Again… We are marketers! What takes you hours will take us minutes, whether it’s setting up a Facebook Pixel or editing a video & putting it on your website. We’ve done it all before!
Surprise! The agency that sells SEO tells you that SEO is the best & only option! We don’t do that. We have no preference or bias to any type of marketing – we do what’s best for the boss (that’s you by the way).
We’ve got your back! You pay our bills, not the 3rd party, so when talking about activities, costs, payment terms & contracts, we’ve got your best interest at heart.
Most of the time we use 3rd parties that are tried & tested. We’ve seen them work & we like it, saving a lengthy research & tendering process. If you want a comparison though, we’ll sort that too.
Maximum info in minimum time. Each month we compile the reports & data from the 3rd parties, plus our own analytics & commentary into a single, digestible report.
Chain of command! You talk to us & we’ll tell the troops. You can sit in on planning sessions / meetings if you like, but if you don’t then we keep the comms simple, saving you time.
Yes, we run your regular marketing activities, but your Proxy Marketing Manager will also be there for ad hoc support, questions or advice. You now have marketers in your corner – use us!
A 15 to 30 minute call to see if our stars align. We’ll learn about your business, your goals, what you’ve tried before or what you’ve always wanted to try, and get a feel for whether your the kind of business we can help to thrive.
The next step is meeting to discuss the direction you want to take your marketing plan in; lets talk about the social media platforms you use, and what you want to achieve from your marketing strategy.
Now lets put your strategy into motion – we will create a marketing plan bespoke to you and your business.
Now it’s time to set up your marketing plan. This can include tidying up your social profiles, testing your website, reviewing the ‘customer journey’, tracking, analytics and anything else relevant to implementing your plan.
Now we’re in motion! Phase 5 is all about 3rd party management, content creation, quality control, reporting, and all aspects of actually marketing! You can sit back and relax – we’ve got this!
If your business has a marketing budget of at least £1000/month (or less if you already have in house copywriters, graphic designers, photographers or videographers etc.) then yes! Even better if you have a marketing admin too.
A Proxy Marketing Manager is the perfect way to up your marketing game without taking putting more pressure on you and your business.
Here is a bit of a better picture for you of what having a Proxy Marketing Manager can actually mean for your business. Say your budget is £1,500 + VAT, you can sit back and watch your business thrive whilst we:
You will get 8 dedicated hours a month for your marketing with our Proxy Marketing Manager.
We introduce PPC to your website to boost your website traffic to turn clickers into customers.
We will boost your social media posts within your budget – lets get more people seeing your amazing business.
We will create a monthly email newsletter for your customers which are both engaging and beneficial to your marketing plan.
We will spruce up your existing blog, or add one to your site to boost your SEO and curate engaging content for your followers and customers.
Need some advice or have a burning question? Your PMM will be contactable and on hand to answer any queries you may have.
We’re a friendly bunch here at Marketing 101 – so get in contact with us now to see how we can help you up your marketing game. We can’t wait to get to know you and your business.