So, you think you don’t need to hire a marketing company to help you? Fair enough. Consider these Myths and Facts and see how hiring help might be the best decision you made for your business.

Myth:
For the savvy small business owner, taking a DIY approach to marketing is not only affordable but it helps the business owner maintain control . . . . of everything which yields better results.

Fact:
Having a professional marketing consultant and a full-service marketing company like Hot Dog Marketing helping you can quickly gain your business more sales. It can also build a foundation of a strong, recognizable brand that will bring you a rewarding business experience for years to come.

In addition, when advertisers are soliciting you endlessly – making it sound like their deal is the best in town – wouldn’t you want someone you can call? When you work with a pro, you might save yourself hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in ideas and “opportunities” that just don’t work. Plus, when you consider how valuable your time is, having a professional who can efficiently manage your marketing programs might be priceless.

More importantly, expanding your team of “experts” is never a bad thing. The lone wolf approach to small business is often riddled with traps. You need good people to talk to, bounce ideas off of, and get more referrals from!

Myth:
Who needs a graphic designer when you have Microsoft Office? You don’t need actually graphic design experience to make something look good.

Fact:
The truth is, yes – you can make some neat looking flyers in Microsoft programs. They even offer templates to try to lead you down the road of good taste and restraint. But all too often, a DIY flyer can end up a mess: missing important information; not including a call to action; doesn’t match any branding; too much clip art; misspellings and typos; bad layout . . . this list can on forever. The end result is a customer looking at your printed materials with confusion if they bother looking at them at all.

When you work with a marketing company, not only will your print materials look and read professionally, but they will accurately reflect your business’s brand. Branding is not just for the big boys. Everyone needs a look, a story, a logo . . . a feeling that captivates your target audience and brings them along for the ride. Your printed materials and online materials should look like your brand – not a template! Your business isn’t a template, is it?

Myth:
I have time to do my own social media, email marketing, blogging and website updates. If I do it every once-in-a-while, it should work just fine.

Fact:
Hot Dog Marketing clients see results from our social media and email marketing efforts after six-eight months of CONSISTENT communication and social media messaging. See our article about how often you should be updating your social media outlets. So, if you are disciplined enough to run updates often and consistently, AND do your email marketing routinely without fail, then go for it! If you want to run your business and have a life too, maybe you should consider getting help.

What’s nice about hiring help for this is not only will it ensure consistency, but the pro you’re working with will be able to contribute ideas and come up with some out-of-the-box approaches that you may never have thought of. Two heads are better than one after all. Most pros will be able to offer you a good interpretation of the analytics related to your social media and email campaigns too.

Myth:
Running ads in the local media is all the marketing I need to do. Business will start pouring in . . . any day now . . .

Fact:
Strategically placed advertisements can work. But when you buy an ad and have the publication design the ad for you, you’re missing out on that “strategy” part. What are you advertising? Is the timing and audience right? What’s the call to action and how are you going to track the results? You know the publication doesn’t actually care if you get any sales out of it, right? They’re not going to help you come up with a way to track the results from your advertisement because its not in their best interest. When you work with a pro, they can advise you and even create the campaign that gives you that valuable ROI (Return on Investment). The pro can also tell you when its time to pull the ad because its not working.

Marketing companies and agencies usually offer a free initial consultation. So, take them up on that offer and see how they can help you. Hot Dog Marketing is available for the free initial consultation and offers very affordable services for Austin, TX small businesses. Call us at 731-6129 or email us for a meeting.