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Priority Marketing has been serving Southwest Florida with marketing solutions for nearly 20 years now, so there are very few questions we haven’t heard! Here are a few of the best questions to ask when evaluating a marketing firm and our answers.

If you have additional questions we don’t cover here, please leave a comment and we’ll be happy to respond with an answer.

How are You Different from Independent Contractors?
Thinking of starting your own agency? That’s pretty much what you’re taking on when you decide to employ sole proprietors, known as freelancers or independent contractors. There are many talented freelance designers, copywriters, website programmers, event planners and media relations experts out there. There are times when it is appropriate to use them. However, if you want a well-rounded strategic marketing effort and don’t have a dedicated full-time marketing director on staff to direct and coordinate the efforts of your independent contractors, that responsibility will fall on your shoulders. A true full-service agency has an established team of professionals dedicated to taking that burden off the client, including account managers who are adept at coordinating marketing efforts strategically and efficiently for optimum results. As a team, we can do things more quickly and more cost efficiently, and we are accountable every step of the way. Therefore, you are free to do what you do best – run your business!

Why Not Hire a Consultant?
Hiring a marketing consultant should provide you with the experienced manager you need to coordinate independent contractors, but what happens when an immediate need arises and your consultant is in a meeting, traveling or otherwise unavailable? No one person can be physically “on-call” all the time – but a team of people can be much more responsive and accommodating. When you hire a full-service agency, you hire an entire team of professionals who are experienced at working together to address long-range goals as well as unexpected situations. There are multiple people who are familiar with your account and can take the ball and run with it when necessary. Furthermore, the collective experiences, talents and connections of the team provide a greater depth of knowledge and value than one individual consultant can offer. Collectively, we’ve worked in almost every industry, and we rarely come across a situation someone on staff isn’t already experienced with.

What About That New Agency – Aren’t They Hungrier for My Business?
An agency values all of its clients, and an experienced, established firm can offer several things a new agency doesn’t. For example, the established agency has already established relationships in the marketing community, particular with vendors, the news media and advertising sales reps. We know who to rely on to provide quality printing, specialty items, catering, website programming and more. We know the editors and reporters we’re pitching your story to and enjoy a mutual respect that has been developed over many years of collaboration. We also negotiate with ad reps on a regular basis and enjoy the status of a preferred customer with many. Finally, if you’ve ever visited a restaurant on opening night, you already know the downside of working with a new business. Chances are the appetizers come out cold, the server doesn’t refill your drink, and the bill isn’t right. A year later, you may enjoy an amazing experience at the same place, but they just haven’t worked out the bugs yet.

Do You Practice What You Preach?
There’s an old adage that goes: “It’s the shoemaker’s children who go without shoes.” All too often it’s true for marketing firms, some of which don’t take the time to follow their own counsel. Our business has grown largely through the referrals of satisfied clients, it’s true, but we are dedicated to actively practicing what we preach. Think twice about hiring an agency that doesn’t have a blog but wants to create yours, hasn’t updated its website in five years and won’t tell you how they market themselves. Marketing our own business keeps us in touch with the client’s perspective and allows us to fine-tune emerging tactics so we are prepared to provide them to clients.

How Experienced Are You in Cutting Edge Media Marketing Tactics?
We believe we are one of the most innovative firms in Southwest Florida. The next question should be: “Will you stay that way?” Technology advances rapidly these days, and that has a huge impact on marketing. As a team, we make a coordinated effort to stay a step ahead of every new trend and advancement that affects our industry, including social media marketing, green marketing and cause marketing. Now, more than ever, it is important to understanding how social factors affect consumer decision making, and social influences can change just as rapidly as technological innovation. We are committed to ongoing professional development and applying our experience to strategically using new advancements to the client’s advantage.

As seasonal residents return north and tourism winds down, many businesses make one of two major marketing mistakes. They either don’t change their marketing approach, or they eliminate marketing entirely. Avoid these mistakes and become aware of the opportunities presented by the summer slowdown to boost your business year-round.

Understand the big picture
The most common mistake businesses make is to halt all marketing efforts during the slower summer months. At the very least, you should be evaluating your marketing efforts from the previous season and planning for the upcoming season. Summer is a great time to take a step back and gain a clear understanding of the big picture. What worked for you this season? What worked for your competitors? Are there new tactics you should try next year? Consider doing a summer market research project to aid your planning for 2011.

Don’t cut the budget
There is a strong argument to be made for keeping your brand top-of-mind during summer months, whether you get an immediate boost in business or not. You can even do this with out-of-town customers easily and cost effectively through e-mail marketing and social media. Of course, if you’re competing for local customers during the summer months it’s absolutely essential to continue your marketing efforts to capture market share. Just be sure summer marketing efforts are highly targeted for the greatest cost efficiency. Those who continue to advertise during the summer months will stand out easily since other advertisers have dropped out entirely for the summer months. There is simply less “noise” and competition for people’s attention.

Avoid a “scattergun” approach
Even in the summer months, some businesses still employ a “scattergun” approach to marketing, placing ads anywhere and everywhere with catchall messaging that doesn’t speak to anyone in an effort to speak to everyone. In most cases, the target market should be more carefully defined. You can more effectively compete for summer business by understanding the demographics and characteristics of the year-round residents who remain in Southwest Florida and continue to be active customers. Focus on them with the appropriate media and message. This strategy may be applied to seasonal marketing efforts as well. The “scattergun” approach is rarely the most efficient one, any time of year.

Build your network
If your business slows down during the summer months, see this circumstance for the opportunity it is. Spend your time wisely by employing high-touch strategies such as networking to reconnect and enhance relationships with referral sources such as vendors. In addition to developing relationships within your industry, reach out to the community. Engage in summer public service projects while you and your staff have time. Start with nonprofits that are experiencing a decrease in summer volunteers. If the high touch approach doesn’t suit your business, you can still use this time effectively by updating your contacts and mailing lists to get them ready for next season’s promotions.

Invest in your marketing “infrastructure”
Another benefit of summer slowdown is the opportunity to “renovate” your marketing tools. If you’ve ever visited Disney during the scorching summer months, you probably got a great deal on tickets. Once you arrived you also noticed many rides under renovation. The timing is far from coincidental, and you should be making the same infrastructure investments during the summer months when traffic is lighter. Give your office or store a facelift, or revamp your website. Now is a great time to invest in new tools such as a blog so you can test these new technologies and tactics.

Get proactive to save time and money
Finally, think about what you can do ahead of time to avoid the last-minute rush in creating your seasonal marketing plan. Draft blog posts surrounding seasonal events now with plans to “tweak” them prior to posting. Create a budget, filling in as many line items as possible in advance. Take photography and draft key messages to facilitate creative campaign development when it becomes necessary. Schedule a meeting with Priority Marketing now to discuss what can be done prior to the pre-season rush to your ensure year-round success.

What are your summer marketing plans? We’d love to hear them, along with your thoughts on these tips!