You want your business to be successful and there’s one thing that you absolutely need for that to happen – customers. The problem that many businesses face isn’t a lack of a market who can be nurtured into customers, but that they don’t have a plan in place for reaching out to them.

A marketing plan is the strongest tool you can have for connecting with your target audience and unfortunately, many businesses don’t have one. The U.S. Small Business Association estimates that about half of small businesses don’t have a marketing plan and nearly 20% of larger businesses are trying to navigate their way to success in the dark without a plan as well.

Considering that a strong digital presence is something that’s so important today, a marketing strategy is a must. Don’t worry, a marketing agency can assist with this but there are some ways that you can help them and ensure that you’ll end up with a results driven strategy that works.

Get to Know Each Other

In order to create a marketing plan with an agency, the two of you need to have a relationship. If someone is promising you results based on a set of strategies that are “proven” to work but hasn’t taken the time to get to know you or your business, it’s a sure sign that they’re not going to generate the results you’re looking for.

The agency you work with should want to get to know you, learn about your goals – both short term and long term, and want to know as much as possible about the audience you want to target with your marketing strategy.

This also means that you’re going to want to come prepared with the answers to these questions. Before you invest in a marketing agency, make sure you can help them as much as possible by having a solid vision for your business.

Be Adaptable

Most of us are guilty of being a little too rigid sometimes, especially when it comes to something that you’re so personally invested in – like your own business. It is entirely possible that the strategy your marketing agency proposes isn’t aligned with what you had envisioned, and this often stems from an incomplete understanding of everything marketing encompasses.

Loosening up the control and adapting to changes is important in marketing. This is true not just for developing a plan, but also being able to adapt to market changes and trends in the future. Working with an agency that you trust and that has a proven record of success can make it easier to adapt to new ideas.

Monitor Results

Every professional marketing agency knows that the job doesn’t end once a plan has been finalized. There’s plenty of tracking and monitoring that goes on after to ensure that your plan has you headed in the right direction. Your marketing agency can help with this, but it’s important that you’re paying attention to what’s being learned.

For example, maybe you discover that your target audience isn’t who you think it is or that you really do need to a new website or to invest more time in social media. With you and your agency on the same team, you can spot weak spots in your strategy and turn them into strong points.

Often the most difficult part of creating a marketing plan is taking the first step to contact an agency. We’re the agency that offers strategic marketing to home services companies and we’re ready to meet you and develop a marketing plan for your business. Contact Spark Local Marketing at 864-477-2111 to learn more.