There’s nothing we love more than an engaged client, and that’s because there is nothing that will cause your marketing program to fail more so than being unresponsive. It is for this reason that we require—yes, REQUIRE—our clients to commit to a regular marketing meeting. These meetings can take place weekly, every other week, or monthly…but they must happen. And that’s because we need feedback to ensure your marketing program is doing its job, and doing it well.

Here is what your marketing team needs to know:

Are your leads qualified? If not, why are they unqualified? This knowledge can help your marketing team tweak ad copy and creative, adjust targeting filters, and make changes to prevent unqualified leads from eating up your advertising budget.

Remember, your marketing team is not involved in the sales process. They don’t hear the conversations you’re having with your leads—they just see metrics on a screen. They see how many leads they’ve generated, and at what cost…but no matter how amazing these metrics might look on paper, they’re useless if your leads aren’t qualified.

Are your leads converting? How many of your leads turned into clients? Even if you’re generating qualified leads at a breakneck pace, they need to turn into clients eventually. It’s crucial that you know your conversion rate, that you are tracking sales back to specific marketing initiatives…and that you are sharing this information with your marketing team. This will help them allocate their time—and your budget—to the initiatives that are generating the most revenue for your business.

Is the messaging appropriate? Most of our clients are comfortable with us pushing out blog and social media content without their approval, but some clients—especially those in the legal and medical industries—like to have the final say. If you prefer to proofread your content before it goes out, that’s great…but remember, neither that stack of blogs nor that library of social media content is doing anything for your bottom line just sitting there in your inbox.

We use our regular marketing meetings to hold clients accountable for getting us feedback. We’ll take the time to review any unapproved content right there in the meeting. That way, their marketing program never skips a beat.

We don’t lose clients often, just a handful in our 12+ years in business. But, when we look back at the relationships that didn’t work out, we can see a clear common thread: disengagement. No response to our emails. No answers to our questions. No approval to push out content. No meetings. No nothing. Radio silence.

Providing regular feedback not only keeps your marketing program on a consistent upward trajectory, but it also ensures that YOU are getting the most bang for your buck.

What are your goals and objectives? Do NOT say “to grow my business”—all marketing is ultimately aimed at growing your business. We want details.

• What are your revenue goals?
• How many new leads do you need per month to hit your sales goals?
• Which services or products do you want to focus your marketing efforts on?
• What engagement rate, follower count, or open rate are you shooting for?
• How many visitors would you like to attract to your website, or how many new members do you want to add to your email list each month?

If you don’t have any specific goals in mind—or if you’re looking at the list of questions above and thinking…‘Uhhh, I have no idea!’—it’s okay. Just enlist the help of your marketing team! Your marketing team can help turn vague long-term goals into specific, measurable short-term goals. They can dive into your current metrics and analytics to gather baseline data to use as a benchmark for future comparison. And, with their fingers firmly on the pulse of your current performance and future goals, they can design and implement a marketing strategy to help you effectively reach them.

Here’s one more reason to discuss your goals with your marketing team: to set expectations. If your goals are unrealistic, your marketing team can help keep you in check and give you a better idea of what to realistically expect from your marketing program.

You want to turn your $500 ad spend into $50,000 in new business? Well, it’s not impossible… but it’s highly unlikely, and a good marketing team will be transparent about what you can reasonably expect from your budget.

If you don’t have a set advertising budget, ask your marketing team to recommend a budget based on your goals. You may be surprised—pleasantly or not—to learn how much it would cost to reach your lead-gen goals via Google Ads. But, knowledge is power. While your marketing team should be upfront about whether your advertising budget is enough to meet your goals, never assume that no news is good news. Ask upfront, and avoid the cringe-inducing we-didn’t-have-enough-budget-to-reach-your-goals excuse 6 months from now when you ask why you’re not getting results.

Imagine this: a lightbulb goes off above your head. You have an idea for a new marketing initiative. It’s a good idea. A really good idea, actually. You share the idea with your marketing team, and—the next thing you know—they’re brainstorming, they’re getting animated, ideas are flying, to-do lists are being made, tasks are being assigned…

In no time, your idea is no longer just an idea. It’s a thing that’s actually happening.

When you share an idea you have for marketing your own business, you’re not overstepping—you’re supporting! In fact, some of the coolest marketing campaigns we’ve developed were born from a brainstorming session with a client.

See something clever on social media? Send it over! Have the opportunity to sponsor a local event, but aren’t sure if it’s worth it? Run it by your marketing team! Fall in love with a promotion you saw online? Show us! There is no ego in marketing. A good idea is a good idea, and your marketing team knows just how to take a good idea and make it great!