Local Business Marketing Consultant
If you’ve chosen to turn your small business marketing campaign over to a local small business marketing consultant, congratulations! You’ve just increased the amount of time you’ll be able to really focus on what you do best – running your business. You may also have just given yourself your life back. I meet many small business owners who have no personal life at all because they run their business most of the day and use what time would be spent with family and friends to do the marketing.
There are tons of choices when you decide to outsource internet marketing for your local business to a consultant. Large firm, medium sized company, or the one person operation – each has strengths and weaknesses. Your choice can be in your city or across the country. You could even go with a consultant from a different country. The thing that business owners must do is make sure that the consultant they choose is a good fit for their business.
If you run a local small business in a suburb of a larger city, if you can find an internet marketing consultant in your suburb that meets all your criteria it’s smart to choose this consultant to work with. There are four reasons that this is a good marketing strategy.
First of all, a consultant that lives in the same town as you’re doing business in will know your area and the local people better than someone who lives some place else. This gives insight and understanding that someone else just won’t have. If your target market is local, it’s of the utmost importance to know the culture and focus on that in your marketing strategy. A consultant who is part of that culture has experience marketing to that very group of people.
Second, a consultant who lives and works where you do business will know your competition. This part shouldn’t be ignored. A marketing consultant from across the country can easily do the research to get internet intelligence on your competition, but there may be things they miss by not being there. Many of the recommendations you’ll get from a local consultant will be built around what they know about your competition by observing locally.
Third, having your marketing resources local to you will be a great help if you truly need face to face help. There are times when being able to sit down and talk with someone over lunch or coffee makes all the difference in the world. As you build a relationship with your consultant, it can be much easier for many people to do that in person. This doesn’t mean that all your interaction will be face to face, but it can raise the comfort level when it’s an option to get together in person to discuss your internet marketing campaign.
Fourth, a local consultant has contacts in other industries and companies that can be leveraged where possible for the benefit of both entities. Relationships are key when working with consultants and relationships will help you expand your network. Joint ventures are one of the best ways to generate new leads and grow business. A local consultant who is involved in your community can put business owners together for the benefit of both.
Small business owners should be able to depend on the internet marketing professional they choose to understand the market, competition, and potential partners for them. By building a relationship with someone local, it’s easy to gain trust and maintain strong partnerships when you drive the same streets, live in the same neighborhoods, and see each other in the grocery store.
Author: Trevino Moore
