What is it that keeps your business from point A to complete success? Many believe that it is the things you do, how hard you work or even the amount of luck you have.
It can possibly be all of these things and will change what everyone is doing. But in my experience, everything has to do with your scope of the business you are working on and what you decide to do with it. Or, as I always say… strategy first.
When you work with a digital marketing consultant, you are changing the approach to business. Instead of basic associations with what you should do everyday, you see things from a new perspective that accelerates your business forward.
Why Spinning Wheels Never Serves in Marketing
I recently worked with a client who I know call the famous “spinning wheel” marketing plan. To a certain extent, this client had success. He made a few million from his online business and was continuing to bring in some flow.
But what I found when I looked at his stats was something different. He was dropping in traffic each month. And, his YouTube views, which were the staple of his business, were also dropping.. an average of 35% per month. For someone who depends on that as the main form of advertising, that amount of a drop is a dangerous space to be.
When I came in as a digital marketing consultant, I noticed that there were several problems with what he was doing. I categorised these as “wheels.”
The client began his business in a similar way that we all do – by taking the advice of others and seeing what worked. So he started posting videos, he learned a little about SEO and he posted on social media each day. He was lucky enough to do this all before the white noise saturated the market and everyone else was doing the same thing.
And so, he had several lucky wheels that where turning for him.
By the time I showed up, I saw all the wheels and also saw that there was little to no strategy behind anything this client was doing. And so in discussions with him, I stated that he had several wheels that were going, but these needed to be optimised to serve him better and to help him retain customers.
At that point, I went into a strategy for SEO. The digital marketing consultant position I offered was to look at new trends in SEO and provide insight on how to get a return.
Within 2 months, the SEO turned to an increase in traffic by 50% per month, and for the next 4 months, it continued to increase by an average of 35% per month.
I didn’t spin wheels. Instead, I built a long, value add strategy that identified exactly what this client needed to turn the tables – for good.
View the Value Add Strategy
View the Changing Numbers
What a Digital Marketing Consultant Does For You
Ok, that’s great. The SEO improves and everyone lives happily ever after. Not really. That is only one piece of the pie. True strategic and business development looks at much bigger pictures than this, taking it to a higher level and working on implementation at a different level. Even though the traffic improved, the YouTube continued to dive. But, the wheels kept spinning in that case.
Typically, working in that fashion as a business leads to a hamster turn that ultimately will kick you off the wheel. Instead, work with bigger pictures, higher levels and strategies that are all encompassing.
Most business owners who are ready to invest or go to the next level don’t do it without looking at a business plan. They understand that planning first gets results later. And, it leads to never having to spin wheels with the latest trends.
Unfortunately, there is always a change in digital marketing. Always. It doesn’t matter if you have just started or been in it for 10 years. New technologies, innovation and different ways of doing things are going to pop up. That means that a digital marketing consultant needs to have their fingers on the pulse and apply these to any strategy you are working on.
A high level business owner does a combination of things to make things work. And, this is where they will work smart by hiring a digital marketing consultant.
1. Look at the current analysis and trends. What is happening and what does that mean for a business investment?
2. How will the positioning of my current business work in order to get the fastest and most effective ROI for a longer period of time?
3. What can I do to stay ahead of the market and to find unique attributes that get results?
When you hire a digital marketing consultant, they should look at the full scope. The complete landscape of the industry, trends, what is expected to happen and how innovation factors into what you are doing.
What is the point of spinning the same wheels as everyone else? You will get lost in the woods of confusion and everyone else who has decided to do the same, exact thing.
The Sustainable Innovation Formula
Join the smart business owners and the digital marketing consultant that knows what the pulse of the industries are. Those who are working at this level are usually going to work with what I’ve coined as sustainable innovation. This is the absolute must formula for strategy and planning today and makes a complete difference in what you decide to do.
Here’s how it works:
1. Defining Sustainability. Your brand identity, value add and everything about what you stand for should be sustainable. Let’s use an overly obvious ideal. Everyone needs food and a space to live. If you want to be sustainable, then show how this adds value to someone’s daily lives. Recession hit? No problem. People still need food and a place to live. Your brand is sustainable.
Innovation is on the rise. That means that sustainability has to include more than survival. This is where a digital marketing consultant can help you. I’ve built several businesses that look at their online position and they build sustainable ventures, even if it is casual experiences or something that isn’t a value add into someone’s life.
Here’s my best example as a digital marketing consultant.
A client of mine came up to me and told me how he currently worked, wanting to find an easier and more graceful solution to his business. He went to trade shows and conducted free workshops around the US to sell out his events. His model didn’t work. He barely broke even by investing in the travel time and by going “free before paid”.
So, I looked at his digital strategy. When I first met him, it was a nightmare. His website was about 15 years old with neon green flashing lights and you couldn’t tell what he was selling.
But there was another problem. The person who designed the website had a stronghold on it and didn’t want to change it.
I did 2 things. First, I said… ok… then just let me take your product in the back of your site and put it in the front. Next day, he sold over 100 items. He had never sold a single item before that time.
The second thing I did was get off the website. I took the person and their personality, which many related to. And, he was a good storyteller. That was his sustainable, brand identity. That value about who he was would never change. So, we took his network and invited them to online storytelling sessions.
I checked in with him about 3 months ago. He’s still using the same formula. He thankfully upgraded his site and even the marketing for social media is the same… the same from almost 10 years ago.
This is what I call, as a digital marketing consultant, sustainable marketing.
Innovate What?
Ok, fabulous. There is sustainable marketing. Now, you are set. You don’t have to do anything, go anywhere… just let the wheels turn and everything will work.
Until your competition comes along and buries you with new ideas.
Technology and the Information Age are disruptive by nature. Innovation is the keyword of today and it’s not going to stop. You can have a brand identity that is strong and lasts forever… but you better have your finger on the pulse of innovation. Any digital marketing consultant should let you know they have the latest and greatest tactics under their belt.
Everyone knows these stories. Giant corporations… Sears, Macys, travel clubs… existing for how many years? 50? They have gone under. Yes, they are surviving. But they had a problem.
They were slow to adapt to the new and emerging technologies and were buried by places like Amazon.
Competition is no longer about your neighbour who might build a bigger stronger store than you.
It’s about the information that is offered in return and how that impacts your business.
If you are working with a digital marketing consultant, then they have to know how your brand identity applies to things like the blockchain, cutting edge surges in social media and the new rules in SEO. Amazingly, most marketers don’t speak about these things until it becomes the trend or close to the trend.
I believe in talking about it now. Before it becomes the trend.
Why?
Because any client that did SEO in 1998 is still on the top of the rankings. They did it before it was the trend and no one can touch their website… unless Google decided it was black hat and cut them out of the mix. But most likely… they are still making money. As long as they followed the rules.
That’s how to work with innovation.
A digital marketing consultant has a new responsibility. That’s not just to set you up to the proper channels and build traction anyway they can. That’s not going to help you with the amount of white noise happening.
Their responsibility is to know what the latest innovations are and to set you up in that way. To not limit it to what any company has heard works in the past. It will work now, yes… but other things can work better.
If you have a sustainable brand, then your digital marketing consultant can take chances with what is next and new. And measure it… or not. But when you go outside of the traditional digital marketing zone, then you can expect to become the centre of the digital universe.
Here's How to Approach Your Digital Marketing Consultant
Here’s your key takeaway. Know what your digital marketing consultant stands for before you hire them. We are not all equal. By this time, you should know what I’m about – sustainable innovation.
Growth hacks are out the window. Following the rules are out the window. And spinning wheels… they are definitely out the window.
I believe in going to a high plateau of effective planning and strategy to get results. And, I’ve seen that time after time – it does. And, I know that it will continue to work that way.
😉 Try it for yourself.